Former 'Scream' director describes receiving death threats after anti-Israel actress fired
Landon was originally hired as the director for the seventh installment of the slasher film series in August 2023. Three months after he was hired, news broke that Barrera, who had starred in the previous two films, was fired from the project due to controversial posts accusing Israel of "genocide" and Western media of only showing the "Israeli side."
By December, Landon wrote on X that he formally exited the project "weeks ago" without specific details. However, on Tuesday, he described the intense "hate and abuse" he faced after Barrera's firing as the main reason.
"People were threatening to kill me and my family, to the point where the FBI was getting involved," Landon told Vanity Fair. "I got messages saying, 'I'm going to find your kids, and I'm going to kill them because you support child murder.'"
He added, "The head of security at various studios and the FBI had to examine the threats. It was highly aggressive and really scary."
Landon emphasized that he was not the one who fired Barrera and had no part in the decision.
"I think in the absence of people understanding how Hollywood works and what the hierarchy is, the fans were like, 'that's the guy.' And so they came for me, knives out," Landon said.
Despite this, he said he holds no animosity towards the film or the film's production company, Spyglass Media Group. Landon pointed out that the company encouraged him to stay on the project, but he felt the abuse was "not worth it."
Fox News Digital reached out to Spyglass Media Group for comment.
Barrera was one of several celebrities who received backlash over her comments on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
One of Barrera's multiple posts on the war read, "Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp. Cornering everyone together, with no where to go, no electricity no water… People have [learned] nothing from our histories. And just like our histories, people are still silently watching it all happen. THIS IS GENOCIDE & ETHNIC CLEANSING."
In another, she added, "I have been actively looking for videos and information about the Palestinian side for the last 2 weeks or so, following accounts etc. Why? Because western media only shows the other side. Why they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself."
It continued, "Usually, the algorithm on social media gets the gist. Well… My discover page on IG will ONLY show me videos showing and talking about the Israeli side. Censorship is very real. Palestinians know this, they know the world has been trying to make them invisible for decades. Keep sharing."
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