Why Fans Are Convinced Jenna Ortega Is At Odds With the Wednesday Writers After Season 2

Wednesday is back at Nevermore as of August 6, 2025 on Netflix, and the fandom is... not thrilled. Season 2 landed with a lot of hype and a lot of side-eye over the writing. Now Jenna Ortega is catching heat in the crossfire thanks to a viral press-tour clip and some very old baggage making the rounds again.

The clip everyone is arguing about

A video from the Season 2 press tour started flying around social media on November 10. In it, Ortega looks visibly irritated while someone asks about the body-swap episode. Cue instant conclusions: some fans read her mood as a protest against this season's storylines, tied to her past comments about the show’s scripts. Others saw a 23-year-old who has been everywhere for a year straight finally hitting a wall.

One fan post that helped push the clip viral framed Ortega as frustrated with 'arrogant' people around her. Another fan, on November 11, offered the less spicy take: yes, some writers have said dumb stuff publicly, but fans are projecting their dislike onto Ortega, who has been filming and doing press nonstop.

Context matters: her schedule has been brutal

• Wrapped Wednesday Season 2 in December 2024
• Shot The Gallerist right after; that wrapped in February
• Worked on Ghostwriter
• Press tours and promo basically the whole time in between

It’s not wild to think she looks worn down. That reads as 'checked out' to some viewers, but it also looks a lot like burnout. Before we turn a tense press-junket moment into a referendum on her relationship with the writers, maybe consider how many airport lounges she’s seen this year.

Where the tension with the writers actually started

If you’re new to the discourse, here’s the quick refresher. On the Armchair Expert podcast, Ortega said she pushed back on lines and even changed dialogue on the Wednesday set when she felt it didn’t track for the character. She described standing her ground so hard it bordered on unprofessional, then having to explain to the writers why certain beats didn’t work for Wednesday.

That honesty didn’t land softly. According to Variety’s coverage at the time, parts of the writers community labeled her 'toxic' and 'arrogant,' and during the strike some signs went directly at her, including: 'Without writers, Jenna Ortega will have nothing to punch up.'

What the Wednesday showrunners say now

Alfred Gough and Miles Millar addressed all of this in a THR interview. Gough’s stance was basically: young stars live under a microscope, they’re going to say imperfect things, and you have to give them grace. He also wasn’t interested in feeding the outrage cycle, noting the internet will do what it does.

Millar, who also worked with Ortega on Beetlejuice, emphasized that collaborating with her has been joyful, and that they elevated her role on Season 2:

'We couldn’t be prouder of her work and we’ve embraced her as a producer on the show this year.'

He also shrugged off the noise around the show’s size and constant chatter, saying the backlash isn’t their reality or hers.

So what’s actually going on?

Here’s the reality: Season 2 is getting dinged by fans for some story choices. A press-tour exchange about a polarizing episode turned into a Rorschach test for what people already feel about the show. Ortega’s past comments about changing lines are real, and the writer blowback was real. But the people actually making Wednesday say they’re good with her, and they literally made her a producer this season. That doesn’t scream open warfare.

My read: this is a perfect storm of a controversial season, a tired lead, and a fandom eager to assign blame. Careful with the conspiracy boards. Sometimes a yikes-y junket moment is just that.