Jenna Ortega reveals REAL reason she quit Scream franchise

Nearly a year and a half after pulling out of the Scream franchise, Jenna Ortega is finally opening up about the real reason for her exit.

The 22-year-old actress signed on to play Tara Carpenter in the 2022 film Scream, the fifth installment in the franchise of the same name.

She also returned as Tara in 2023’s Scream VI, and was expected to return in the upcoming Scream VII, which is set for release on February 27, 2026.

However she made the surprising announcement in November 2023 that she was exiting the franchise, shortly after fellow co-star Melissa Barrera was fired due to her pro-Palestinian social media posts.

Ortega’s exit was initially said to be due to both scheduling and pay issues, though many wondered if her exit was in solidarity to support Barrera after her firing.

The actress also clarified in an interview with The Cut that it was not only Barrera’s exit, but also the departure of directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, who were at the helm for both of her Scream movies.

Nearly a year and a half after pulling out of the Scream franchise, Jenna Ortega is finally opening up about the real reason for her exit.

The 22-year-old actress signed on to play Tara Carpenter in the 2022 film Scream, the fifth installment in the franchise of the same name.

‘It had nothing to do with pay or scheduling. It was all kind of falling apart,’ she said of the film, after both Barrera and the directors left.

‘If wasn’t going to be with that team of directors and those people I fell in love with, then it didn’t seem like the right move for me in my career at the time,’ Ortega said.

Gillett and Bettinelli-Oplin left the project in August 2023, just a few months before Barrera’s firing, and they were replaced by Christopher Landon (Freaky, Happy Death Day).

After Barrera and Ortega had backed out of the project, Landon left too, with original Scream writer Kevin Williamson coming back to direct from Guy Busick’s script.

Back in January, Barrera spoke about her friendship with Ortega, hinting her exit was more about solidarity than scheduling.

‘Listen, Jenna is a good egg. She’s a good person and we love each other. She would show up for me and I would show up for her no matter what,’ Barrera said of her former co-star.

‘It’s for the well-being of both sides of that wall, you know? An end to the violence. That’s it. An end to the violence for everyone’s peace and security. Just… humanity,’ she said.

Barrera said the controversy helped shed light on who her true friends were.

‘It had nothing to do with pay or scheduling. It was all kind of falling apart,’ she said of the film, after both Barrera and the directors left.

After Barrera and Ortega had backed out of the project, Landon left too, with original Scream writer Kevin Williamson coming back to direct from Guy Busick’s script.

‘Listen, Jenna is a good egg. She’s a good person and we love each other. She would show up for me and I would show up for her no matter what,’ Barrera said of her former co-star.

‘It’s for the well-being of both sides of that wall, you know? An end to the violence. That’s it. An end to the violence for everyone’s peace and security. Just… humanity,’ she said.

‘One hundred percent. It’s great. It’s like a filter. It’s very important, in this industry, to know who you can count on and who you can’t, and who you wanna work with and who you don’t,’ she said.

Barrera starred in the last two films in the horror franchise as Sam Carpenter and had been about to shoot the next before being dropped by Spyglass.

Filming on Scream VII began in January, with Neve Campbell returning as original Scream star Sidney Prescott.

The film also stars Isabel May (1883) as Sidney’s daughter, Joel McHale as Sidney’s husband, Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers, David Arquette as Dewey Riley, Mason Gooding as Chad Meeks-Martin and Jasmine Savoy brown as Mindy Meeks-Martin.