Trigger warning: This article mentions sexual assault. Along with the Safdie brothers, he produced one of the most-talked-about films in recent memory, Uncut Gems, as well as a slew of other indie cinema darlings. So, what did Sebastian Bear-McClard do that caused his own production company to terminate his contract in 2022?
Bear-McClard is perhaps best known for his relationship history; dating and eventually marrying Emily Ratajkowski in February 2018. The couple welcomed their first and only child, son Sly, in 2021, but Ratajkowski filed for divorce after four years of marriage in 2022. “I was really, really unhappy. I was 100 pounds and I had just had a baby,” she told the Going Mental with Eileen Kelly podcast in an episode that dropped on March 9, 2023. “I got really skinny because I was not OK. I tried everything else. I tried to take antidepressants. I was sure that something was wrong with me.” She continued: “I think so much of what I’ve learned, coming out of that relationship, is to trust your instincts. And gaslighting is a real thing … I didn’t understand that it was actually going to be so nice to come back to myself and return back to how I see the world.” While Ratajkowski hasn’t commented on the news concerning her estranged ex, sources told Variety she “wasn’t surprised” by the allegations. Here’s what we know.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, free and confidential help is available. Call the National Sexual Assault Hotline on 1-800-656-4673.
What did Sebastian Bear-McClard do?
What did Sebastian Bear-McClard do? On March 29, 2023, he publicly was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women, grooming and using derogatory language towards people on the set of Uncut Gems and Good Time. According to statements made to Variety, Bear-McClard reached out to a then-17-year-old (in early 2016) on Instagram, inviting her to meet and perform in a scene with Good Time star Robert Pattinson. As a Twilight fan, she was excited at the opportunity but when she made her way into a cramped room, she was naked and standing in front of nearly a dozen male cast and crew members and instead of doing the scene with Pattinson, she was paired with an actor who had recently been released from prison.
Sebastian Bear-McClard, Emily Ratajkowski. Photo by MEGA/GC Images
She “was utterly stunned and felt terrified. My distress only worsened when out of nowhere, [an actor] whispered in my ear if ‘he could stick it in’ while the cameras rolled. I said ‘no.’” The statement is one of three made by women after Bear-McClard and Ratajkowski’s highly publicized break up and continued contentious divorce and custody battle over their young son, Sly. Bear-McClard, through a spokesperson, declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the Safdies told Variety: “The Elara team were made aware of Sebastian McClard’s behavior in July 2022. They took immediate action and terminated him.”
There are also allegations that stem from Bear-McClard’s alleged behavior during production of the critically acclaimed Uncut Gems. An 18-year-old woman at the time claims she met Bear-McClard on set and he began “grooming” her via Instagram; claiming he could use his position in the film industry to help her career. She recalled one incident that took place at the apartment he shared with his then-wife, Ratajkowski: “Sebastian and I started kissing. Things escalated and then, without asking for my consent, Sebastian inserted himself inside me without using a condom.” Ratajkowski, 31, declined comment, per Variety, but friends say she is not surprised by the allegations.
This latest alleged behavior aligns with what has previously been reported about Bear-McClard’s conduct while still married to Ratajkowski. “Yeah, he cheated,” a source close to the model told Page Six when news broke of their impending divorce in September 2022. “He’s a serial cheater. It’s gross. He’s a dog.” The whole internet was on Ratajkowski’s side when the news broke of his repeated infidelity and she even liked several tweets that addressed her split from her husband. “Can’t believe that little bitch cheated on emrata,” read one such tweet by user @tretslut. “Girls, how are we celebrating Emrata’s divorce,” read another liked tweet by Twitter user @coolpilled. Ratajkowski also liked a tweet by Twitter user @afterrpartay that read, “emrata finally free from that man just proves that god is actually very real.” The model observed that “it was so interesting that that was the reaction to that news, because I was just like, ‘Duh, men are trash, ladies,’” she joked on the Going Mental podcast. “Like, it doesn’t matter who you are, or how perfect you are.”
In June 2020, Bear-McClard was forced to apologize after his casual use of the N-word was made public. As the Black Lives Matter movement swept across the world, Ratajkowski shared on Instagram that she sometimes felt “so useless” while protesting racial inequality. BET’s style director Danielle Prescod commented: “I actually have an idea. You could start by talking to your husband, a white man, who has used the n-word repeatedly in my presence. So much so that another black friend was so disgusted she left [the party where he said it]. Another black woman had the same exact experience.” She added, “You probably have never seen this behavior. I would like you to address the issues in your home and then you can help us out here. I would like you to ask him what he can do differently … I mean this with the utmost sincerity. It was hurtful and abusive.”
The Uncut Gems producer tweeted in response: “I used a word casually like it was mine to use,”. “It’s not, it never was, and never will be. In the past few years I’ve learned a lot about my privilege as a man and as a white person and about the history of racism in this country. Owning our missteps is a crucial part of changing the way the world operates. I’m embarrassed and ashamed and I sincerely apologize to everyone who I may have hurt.”
Ratajkowski, meanwhile, is celebrating being single after being a self-confessed “serial monogamist” since the age of 14 and has learned a lot about herself when she’s been in relationships. “I just totally abandoned my own boundaries and my own ideas of what is important,” she told the Going Mental with Eileen Kelly podcast. “Now I’m super-grounded in them. I have basically curated my life exactly to how I want it to be.”
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, free and confidential help is available. Call the National Sexual Assault Hotline on 1-800-656-4673.
Image: Courtesy of Metropolitan Books.
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