Jenna Ortega apparently liked a post reporting on Melissa Barrera doubling down on her pro-Palestine stance amid her recent firing -- that is, if these screenshots are to be believed.
Here's the deal ... in the days since news broke that Jenna was also exiting the 'Scream' franchise -- this amid Melissa's tumultuous firing over her Palestine rhetoric -- there's been a lot of speculation that JO actually sides with her costar, but distanced herself publicly.
That hunch was only further fueled when fans noticed that Jenna recently seemed to like an IG post from an account documenting celeb activity on Palestine ... which recapped MB defending her position post-firing ... news to which Jenna supposedly hit the like button.
Of course, if you go to this same IG page now ... Jenna's alleged "like" is nowhere to be found, and her own Insta page is also *mostly* free of any Palestine content -- as is her Twitter account, which has been deactivated. Old alleged tweets of hers, though, have been circulating ... and people are claiming she used to post pro-Palestine sentiments as well.
In other words, if Jenna did in fact like this IG post ... it would appear she's quietly cosigning Melissa's stance ... something just about everyone assumed was the case seeing how quickly she bowed out of "Scream VII" upon Melissa's ousting -- despite reports suggesting JO leaving had nothing to do with MB, and was more so due to scheduling conflicts.
Frankly, nobody buys that ... and depending on where you land on this issue, you're either celebrating Jenna or slamming her. In any case, the 'Scream' franchise is kinda screwed now.
Fact is ... Jenna and Melissa (but mostly Jenna) were far and away the biggest stars of the rebooted movies, and the whole story arc revolves around them. With both of them gone, there's only Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown left from the new OG cast.
They're cool and all, but they're mostly afterthoughts ... and their characters carrying on the saga doesn't really make sense without MB and JO. So, on paper, it would seem the "Scream 7" writers might have to go in a completely different direction with completely new actors, etc. Plus, fans are promising to boycott this latest sequel if/when it comes out ... so there's likely to be an uphill battle in drumming up interest/making the studio big bucks.
The last two installments have been absolutely successful in turning a profit (and then some) -- but without the 2 fan fave stars in the driver's seat, the question remains ... is Ghostface, alone, enough to get asses in seats? Time will tell, we suppose. 😱