Jenna Ortega Explains Why She Left Scream 7 (And It Wasn’t Due to Pay)

Jenna Ortega has become one of Hollywood’s biggest rising stars, best known for her role as Wednesday Addams in the Netflix series Wednesday. However, she has left behind one of her other big hits in the slasher franchise, Scream, and now, the 22-year-old reveals why she won’t be returning to star in the 2026 film Scream 7 after previously appearing in the last two movies.

Following her success in stepping inside the boots of the bleak and gothic-styled teenager on Wednesday, Ortega saw her career rapidly take off and confirmed in 2023 that she would be a producer for the upcoming Season 2 of the series, explaining that she wanted to have more input on the projects she was involved in. Ortega went on to play Phoebe, the love interest of Judah Lewis’s character, in Netflix’s 2020 horror film The Babysitter: Killer Queen and has since starred and served as an executive producer on the A24 comedy-horror film Death of a Unicorn. Starting her career in Disney’s Stuck in the Middle, and later in Jane the Virgin and Penn Badgley’s You, the world truly is an oyster for the Californian native, which shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

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Jenna Ortega Explains Real Reason Why She Left Scream 7 Behind

In an interview with The Cut, the Wednesday star dismissed the rumors surrounding her exit from the upcoming movie, Scream 7, revealing that “it had nothing to do with pay or scheduling.” Ortega went on to explain that it came down to the departure of her Scream co-star Melissa Barrera, as well as directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin exiting the film, leaving Ortega feeling like the Scream franchise was crumbling away. “The Melissa stuff was happening, and it was all kind of falling apart,” she explained.

In 2024, Melissa Barrera was fired from the franchise for speaking out against Israel. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Barrera opened up about that period of her life and how tough it had been for her, especially amid rumors that she had been let go by her agency. “It’s definitely hard because I was just in such a cloudy state of mind, but I was very fortunate,” stated Barrera. “I had a lot of support from the people around me: my team and specifically my publicists — they just carried me.” During the chaos, Barrera praised Ortega for her support during her firing, stating that she was a good friend who showed up for her through a difficult time.

Many stars from the latest Scream installments won’t be making their way back for the seventh film. However, some legacy cast members like Neve Campbell will be returning to her original role as Sidney Prescott, along with Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers, and Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown reprising their roles as siblings Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin. Other Scream 7 cast members included Isabel May, Celeste O’Connor, Asa Germann, Mckenna Grace, Sam Rechner, and Anna Camp.

Scream 7 is all set to release in theaters on February 27, 2026.

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Scream 7

Release Date

February 25, 2026

Director

Kevin Williamson

Writers

Guy Busick

Producers

Cathy Konrad, Gary Barber, Marianne Maddalena, Neve Campbell, Peter Oillataguerre, William Sherak, Ron Lynch

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  Neve Campbell

  Sidney Prescott

• 
• 

  Celeste O’Connor

  Chad Meeks-Martin

• 

  Asa Germann

  Gale Weathers

Source: The Cut