On Wednesday night, dozens of pro-Palestine protesters marched outside the Los Angeles premiere of Scream 7, filling the air with their calls for justice and freedom. As they marched, some demonstrators waved Palestinian flags, while others held signs that read "Cancel Paramount+" and "Stand For Free Speech Boycott Scream 7." The group's chants of "Boycott Scream 7" and "Free, free, free Palestine" echoed through the streets, accompanied by the sound of drums and trumpets.
Despite the premiere taking place at the Paramount Studios lot, the protests could only be faintly heard from the red carpet where the film's stars, including Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox, were posing for photos. When director Kevin Williamson was asked about the protest at the premiere, he told The Hollywood Reporter, "I saw them and my heart just sort of stopped. Look, we live in America. Everyone has a right to protest and everyone should be heard. And if you have your truth and if you want to stand up and be heard, you protest. That is your right in this country, and I stand by it. I support that 100%."
The protest, led by Entertainment Labor for Palestine, CODEPINK LA, and Jewish Voice for Peace-Los Angeles, aimed to call attention to the industry's widespread silencing of pro-Palestinian voices and its whitewashing of Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza. According to a news release from CODEPINK LA, the protest was also in response to Melissa Barrera's firing from Scream 7 in November 2023 after she expressed support for Palestine on her social media following Hamas' invasion of Israel in October 2023.
Spyglass Media Group, the company behind the Scream franchise, said in a statement at the time that they had "zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion, or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech."
The CODEPINK LA news release added that the protest was to "raise awareness about the Boycott Scream 7 campaign and urge audiences to refrain from supporting the film," which releases on Feb. 27. "We believe that Melissa Barrera is a part of the Scream community and that it's our responsibility to speak out when a member of our community has been harmed," Boycott Scream 7 organizer and longtime fan Nino Testa shared in a statement. "We refuse to let the franchise we love be used as propaganda for a genocide. We reject Hollywood's racist blacklisting and censorship of any person who advocates for a free Palestine."
