Matthew Lillard feels "embarrassed" that he decided to appear in Scream 7 after Melissa Barrera was fired.
In November 2023, the Mexican actress was abruptly dropped from the lead role in the slasher film after she made pro-Palestinian social media posts about the Gaza war, which bosses at Spyglass Media Group claimed were antisemitic - an accusation she denied.
Addressing the crowd at a Q&A session for the Scream 30th anniversary screening held at a theatre in Austin, Texas on Tuesday night, Lillard admitted he regrets not standing up for Barrera at the time.
"Melissa Barrera, who's a beautiful actor, was fired for what she said after the whole Palestinian - what started happening in Israel. It's really f**king bulls**t and really hard, and she's on the right side of history," he said, according to fan footage circulating on TikTok. "When they start coming after your job, sometimes things are worth it."
Lillard, who reprised the role of Stu Macher from 1996's original Scream, went on to argue Barrera was a "year early" in her activism.
"But the whole world should have popped up and said, 'She's right.' And they didn't. And that's brutal. I went back to do Scream (7), and I got called out. And I'm like, 'Oh, f**k. That's brutal.' I feel bad about that. I feel ashamed about that. Because in that moment I was so excited to go back, I didn't really think about Melissa and that journey. I didn't say no," the 56-year-old continued.
"I'm embarrassed, that's the truth... I blew that. I'm on the wrong side of history for that. I still like being in the movie (but) it may not have been the best idea."
Representatives for Barrera have not yet responded to Lillard's comments.
Previously, the Abigail star portrayed Sam Carpenter in 2022's Scream and 2023's Scream VI.
Scream 7, which was released in February, also featured Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and Anna Camp.
