Warning: Brief mention of sexual misconduct and grooming.
Emily Ratajkowski explained why she hasn't commented on her split from her estranged husband, Sebastian Bear-McClard.
For context, Emily married the Uncut Gems and Good Time producer in 2018 after two weeks of dating. The two share 2-year-old Sylvester and split in July of last year. Many speculated that the relationship ended after Sebastian cheated on Emily, which she alluded to on Twitter but never confirmed.
Then, last month, Sebastian was accused of sexual misconduct and "grooming" multiple teenagers — some of which occurred while he was still with Emily.
In a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, Emily described recent months as the “most traumatic experiences of [her] entire life.”
Adding that she felt "scared," she said that her son was the main reason why she had not spoken about the "horrifying" year she had. “I’m learning that outspoken women don’t often get their children," she said.
Emily further noted that she wasn't necessarily surprised by people who would question how Sebastian could cheat on a model like her, but that it made her sad: “The world is pretty brutal to women, no matter what they look like."
The piece then mentions an essay Emily wrote in her 2021 book My Body, in which she described attending a Hollywood agency party where Sebastian's agent allegedly made a drunken comment comparing her to "Pamela Anderson before the hep C."
“I thought about the way that [Sebastian] had glided through the room, a room full of men who only two years before had been kissing Harvey Weinstein’s ring and encouraging their young female clients to take meetings with him in hotel rooms,” she wrote at the time. “I hated that my husband was at all connected to these men.”
"Maybe that’s why right now I’m not really interested in men’s POVs,” she continued to the LA Times, “Because they were lies. And I don’t mean infidelity. This is a fucked up world. Like, Hollywood is fucked up. And it’s dark."
“Obviously, it would be nice to be with somebody who’s in the industry or understands it, but I don’t think I can. That was what that essay was about," Emily continued, noting elsewhere that she stopped acting and fired her acting agent, commercial rep, and manager because they "hate women." She continued, "I had a hard time even being at a party like that. But then having a part of me that was so connected to it was even harder.”
You can read the full profile with Emily here.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE, which routes the caller to their nearest sexual assault service provider. You can also search for your local center here.