Emily Ratajkowski’s ex-husband Sebastian Bear-McClard accused of ‘grooming’ two women when they were teens

Emily Ratajkowski and Sebastian Bear-McClard when they were still married. Picture: Instagram

Emily Ratajkowski and Sebastian Bear-McClard when they were still married. Picture: Instagram

Published Mar 30, 2023

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Emily Ratajkowski’s estranged former husband Sebastian Bear-McClard has been accused of sexual misconduct by two women when they were teenagers.

The 31-year-old model’s film producer ex, 42, is said to have “groomed” his alleged victims via Instagram before he slept with them, according to legal papers obtained by “Variety”.

Bear-McClard reportedly reached out to a 17-year-old on Instagram in 2016 before meeting her at a Soho loft, and promised her she would be able to meet the star of “Good Time”, Robert Pattinson, on the set of the film which was being produced by directing duo Josh and Benny Safdie.

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The woman, now 24, has accused him of sexual misconduct along with two other alleged victims.

She said she was left waiting on the set in New York for her scene to be called and was forced to strip naked in front of nearly 12 male cast and crew members – before being paired with an actor who had recently been released from prison before being hired for the film.

A spokeswoman for the Safdies told “Variety” an alert was raised about Bear-McClard’s “behaviour” in July 2022 and “immediate action” was said to have been taken that ended in him being “terminated” from their employment.

In a statement made in August last year, the woman said: “I 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’.”

She said she started sleeping with Sebastian when she was 17.

Another woman, 18 at the time, said she met Bear-McClard, who was married then, during the production of “Uncut Gems”, and he allegedly began “grooming” her on Instagram, using his position in the film industry to make her career promises.

In her statement, also obtained by “Variety”, she said describes an incident she alleged happened at the flat Bear-McClard shared with “Gone Girl” actress Ratajkowski: “Sebastian and I started kissing. Things escalated and then, without asking for my consent, Sebastian inserted himself inside me without using a condom.”

She added that the producer called her “retarded” and a “k***”, before saying he was joking.

The woman also claimed Bear-McClard started sending messages on Instagram to a 15-year-old girl who was not part of the production but had visited the set.

Another woman, who has worked on several independent films at the intern and assistant level, provided a statement obtained by “Variety” that did not cover workplace sexual misconduct but asserted Bear-McClard engaged in troubling behaviour.

“Variety” said his ex declined to comment on the report.

The publication added: “Bear-McClard, through a spokesperson, declined to comment.”

It said the statement from the woman, who was 17 at the time of Bear-McClard’s alleged misconduct, was “one of three made by women in the aftermath of Bear-McClard and Ratajkowski’s well-publicised split last summer”.

Bear-McClard has produced the three most recent films of the Safdie brothers, and Ratajkowski, with whom he has 2-year-old son Sylvester, filed for divorce last year, citing an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage amid rumours he had been cheating.