Emily Ratajkowski says she's had a 'horrifying' year amid Sebastian Bear-McClard divorce, misconduct allegations
Emily Ratajkowski is living through one of the "most traumatic experiences of [her] entire life" as she works to formally end her marriage to Sebastian Bear-McClard.
That's what the model, actress, author and podcast host told the Los Angeles Times in a wide-ranging new interview amid her divorce from and custody battle with the Uncut Gems producer. Last week, Bear-McClard was accused of alleged sexual misconduct by three women, some of which allegedly occurred while he was married to the High Low With EmRata host.
Ratajkowski told the outlet she wouldn't go into the detail about the “horrifying” year she’s had, parting ways with Bear-McClard last summer before she filed for divorce in September, because of their 2-year-old son, Sly.
"I’m scared," Ratajkowski said. "I’m learning that outspoken women don’t often get their children."
As for the custody arrangement at the moment, she said Sly is currently living with her full time, but he sees his father a few times a week.
While Ratajkowski wasn't getting into specifics, she said she is aware of the social media discussion around her split with people wondering who in their right mind would cheat on her — the woman who danced, topless, into the public eye in the "Blurred Lines" video a decade ago.
"The world is pretty brutal to women, no matter what they look like," the 31-year-old said.
The article did retell the story from an essay Ratajkowski wrote in her book My Body about going to a WME industry party with her husband with new perspective. As the story went, she wasn't having fun at the event, where people kept asking for her photo, and felt ignored by Bear-McClard. As she and Bear-McClard were having a disagreement, his agent walked up to them and told her that she was so famous she was "like Pamela Anderson before the hep C." She hated the whole experience, and how Bear-McClard seemed at home in the room, which just years before had also included men "kissing Harvey Weinstein’s ring and encouraging their young female clients to take meetings with him in hotel rooms. I hated that my husband was at all connected to these men."
It said the revelations of her ex's alleged misconduct only confirmed her worst suspicions. She told the outlet, "And maybe that’s why right now I’m not really interested in men’s POVs. Because they were lies. And I don't mean infidelity. This is a f***ed up world. Like, Hollywood is f***ed up. And it’s dark."
She said in 2020, she fired her acting agent, commercial rep and manager because she "didn’t trust them" and thought they "hate women."
As Ratajkowski works to officially sever ties with her ex and starts anew, "It feels beautiful, like I’ve awoken," she said. "It’s kind of like the archetype of Pygmalion, the classic story of the mannequin or statue coming alive. There’s something that’s been created in a man’s perfect image, and then it takes on its own life."
She's developing a calmer outlook on life.
"I don’t even feel my heart rate go up in the way that I used to," she said. "The anxiety doesn’t hit me so much, because I’m very clear on how I see the world and what the truth is.”
While she said she's "really just not thinking about guys. I’m working, I’m a single mom. I’ve been so busy that it’s easy not to think about," she did address some of the men she's been linked to in recent months, which have included Eric André, Pete Davidson and — you may have heard — Harry Styles.
Talking about her dates with the Saturday Night Live alum, whose dating history fascinates the public, she said, "Even my friends were like, 'What was that like?' I actually don’t understand it. People are so perplexed by the idea that a man might just be respectful to women and treat them like people and thus be easy to go out on dates with."
As for Styles, who she was captured making out with on a Tokyo street last month, she wouldn't address the specific rumors, including her friendship with his pop star's ex, Olivia Wilde, and the rumors that the three of them maybe had something going on.
"There’s a million insane, inaccurate things about my relationships [that are said],” Ratajkowski told the outlet in a followup comment from Japan. However, she added, "I’m definitely still not thinking about guys. Although, yeah. You know, sometimes things just happen."
On March 29, Bear-McClard was accused of sexual misconduct by three women. Among the allegations are that he contacted to a 17-year-old on Instagram and got her to film a nude scene for the Safdie Brothers’ film Good Time, without informing her what it involved. Another woman claimed that when she was 18, Bear-McClard — who was married to Ratajkowski at this time — started "grooming" her via Instagram and had unprotected sex with her without asking for her consent. Bear-McClard's lawyer did not comment on the allegations. A spokesperson for the Safdies said they were "made aware of Sebastian McClard’s behavior in July 2022. They took immediate action and terminated him."
