Sebastian Bear-McClard, estranged-husband of Emily Ratajkowski and a producer who worked regularly with the Safdie Brothers, is facing numerous allegations of sexual misconduct, Variety reports.
Among the allegations are that Bear-McClard reached out to a 17-year-old on Instagram and roped her into filming a nude scene for the Safdie Brothers’ film Good Time, without telling her what the scene entailed. Another woman said that when she was 18, Bear-McClard — who was married to Ratajkowski at this time — started “grooming” her on Instagram and described one harrowing incident that took place at the apartment he shared with Ratajkowski.
“Sebastian and I started kissing,” she said. “Things escalated and then, without asking for my consent, Sebastian inserted himself inside me without using a condom.”
There were also claims that, during the making of Uncut Gems, Bear-McClard started messaging a 15-year-old girl on Instagram who was not part of the production. At the same time, he was allegedly involved with another young woman on the film’s set, who was working as an assistant.
The allegations were primarily pulled from statements filed in connection with one of Bear-McClard’s ongoing legal disputes. These include his high-profile divorce with Ratajkowski, as well as private mediation with the Safdies, who fired him from the production company they co-founded, Elara, last summer.
A lawyer for Bear-McClard did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s request for comment. A spokesperson 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.”
According to the 17-year-old girl, after Bear-McClard reached out to her on Instagram, they had an informal meeting at a loft in the Manhattan neighborhood of SoHo. When the girl — who came from an impoverished background — was offered the part in Good Time, she was excited to meet the film’s star, Robert Pattinson. However, she never got to meet Pattison and was “utterly stunned and felt terrified” when it came time to film her scene, which involved her standing naked in front of about a dozen male cast and crew members, including one actor who’d recently been released from prison.
“My distress only worsened when out of nowhere, [an actor] whispered in my ear if ‘he could stick it in’ while the cameras rolled,” she wrote in her statement. “I said ‘no.’”
Because the girl wasn’t a professional actor, and thus not a member of the Screen Actors Guild, she was not protected by some of the union’s rules and requirements about nude scenes. Those stipulations state, for instance, that filming conditions cannot be “detrimental to the health, morals and safety of the minor.”
After shooting the Good Time scene, the girl and Bear-McClard began a two-year consensual romantic relationship (the age of consent in New York is 17). The scene she filmed, however, was not included in Good Time — though it was reportedly used in promo footage shown at the 2016 Cannes Film Market, where it was purchased by A24. (Good Time premiered and competed at the Cannes Film Festival the following year.)
As for the 18-year-old, she said Bear-McClard alternately made her big promises about her career and insulted her with offensive language, calling her “retarded” and a “kike” (which he allegedly claimed he was doing as a joke). The woman also says Bear-McClard tracked her through an app on her phone.
The 18-year-old also provided details about Bear-McClard’s alleged interactions with the 15-year-old he started talking with on Instagram, who reportedly once visited the Uncut Gems set. When the 18-year-old confronted him about this, she claimed, “Sebastian appeared pleased with himself and laughed at my comment. He did not deny my accusations.”