Melissa Barrera was spotted among the large group of protestors who took to the streets of Park City, Utah on Jan. 21 during the Sundance Film Festival to urge attendees to call for an immediate ceasefire of the Israel-Hamas war.
As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, Scream star Melissa Barrera and Pose star Indya Moore were among the group of protestors chanting “Free Palestine” and “Stop the genocide” during the festival.
During the protest, Moore gave an impassioned speech, saying, “I’m gay as — God forgive me — f**k. I love everybody. I love people. I have Israeli friends. I have Jewish friends. I have Palestinian friends. Everybody sees what’s happening,” the actor said.
“They all agree, there needs to be a ceasefire. Stop telling us to hate each other. Stop telling us they hate each other. They also know that the Palestinian children that have been murdered are not responsible for freeing the hostages right now. That’s just the truth, right? The children are innocent … If you care about life, if you care about dignity, if you care about freedom, you care about the self-determination of everybody.”
The group gathered at Sundance due to its high-profile attendees, including celebrities, directors, and producers. “We are not protesting Sundance, we are protesting the complacency of the mainstream media,” one protestor said during the demonstration. “All of you here who are filmmakers and artists, who use your art to tell stories, why are you being silent?”
The Hollywood Reporter also notes that there was a police presence at the protest and it briefly “grew tense” when supporters of Israel started their chant of “Bring them home,” regarding the over one hundred hostages that are still being held in Gaza after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. As of Jan 22, over 25,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s attack on Gaza according to Palestinian officials.
And in the last three months, organizers across the world have staged protests calling for a ceasefire, from college campuses to New York’s Grand Central Station.
In November 2023, Barrera was fired from Scream 7 after posting about the bombardment of Gaza e on social media. At the time, Spyglass Media Group said her firing wasn’t because she supported Palestinians, but because her posts could be interpreted as antisemitic.
“Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have 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 company said in a statement.
After her firing, Melissa Barrera said she was “so grateful” for what had occurred. “Honestly, I think I finally am becoming who I’m supposed to be in life, and the last few months have been a big awakening of that,” she told the Associated Press.
