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Melissa Barrera Blasts Hollywood for Blacklisting Over Palestine Stance

Mexican actress Melissa Barrera claims Hollywood blacklisted her for supporting Palestinians while failing to acknowledge the Hamas terror attack that killed over a thousand Israelis on October 7, 2023.

Eleni Papadaki-Van Der Merwe Staff Writer

AUGUST 12, 2026 AT 9:36 AM

Speaking on the Latino USA podcast with host Maria Hinojosa, the former Scream star portrayed herself as a victim of industry retaliation over her pro-Palestinian stance, according to Breitbart News. Notably absent from her remarks was any acknowledgment of the Hamas terror attack that claimed the lives of more than a thousand Israeli civilians, including children, women, and elderly victims.

Barrera claimed that numerous individuals have lost their jobs simply for advocating what she described as Palestinian human rights. There are a lot of people that got fired for basically saying Palestinians deserve human rights, she stated during the interview.

The actress went on to suggest that powerful financial interests were silencing those who speak out about civilian casualties. She portrayed her activism as standing up for the principle that children deserve to grow up and that people’s lives should matter more than political or economic considerations.

In a particularly controversial turn, Barrera drew parallels between President Donald Trump’s deportation policies and what she characterized as abuses occurring in Palestinian territories. She claimed that surveillance mechanisms and police tactics employed in Gaza are now being replicated in the United States.

Podcast host Hinojosa enthusiastically reinforced this narrative, interjecting references to border walls and checkpoints to bolster the comparison.

Despite claiming to have faced professional consequences, Barrera insisted she has emerged victorious. She pointed to her current Broadway engagement as evidence that attempts to silence her have failed, asking who is laughing last now that she remains professionally active.

The actress also promoted her film Traces of Home, which follows a Mexican-Palestinian family reconnecting with their ancestral homelands. The project has been characterized as advancing a pro-Palestinian narrative in the ongoing propaganda war surrounding the conflict.

Barrera’s comments reflect a broader pattern among entertainment industry figures who have faced backlash for downplaying or ignoring Hamas terrorism while focusing exclusively on Palestinian grievances. The October 7 massacre marked the deadliest single-day attack on Jews since the Holocaust, yet many Hollywood activists have refused to condemn the perpetrators.

With information from Breitbart News

Eleni Papadaki-Van Der Merwe

She was born in 1986 in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is the granddaughter of an immigrant from Crete who settled in the Greek community of Johannesburg (one of the largest in Africa). She holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Political Science from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg and a master’s degree in Journalism from Rhodes University in Grahamstown. She began her career at English-language media outlets in Johannesburg, covering politics and economics, with a focus on issues related to migration and the diaspora. She moved to Athens in 2015 to “return to her roots,” initially to pursue graduate studies, and has remained there permanently. She is married to an Afrikaner; they have two children and live in the southern suburbs of Athens.