Why Emily Ratajkowski is ‘scared’ to talk about ex Sebastian Bear-McClard’s assault allegations

Emily Ratajkowski doesn't want to jeopardise her chances of getting full custody of the son she shares with her ex-husband. Photo / Getty Images

Emily Ratajkowski has revealed why she’s stayed silent on the recent accusations of sexual misconduct, grooming, and assault related to multiple young women levelled at her estranged husband, Sebastian Bear-McClard.

The model and Bear-McClard – who share two-year-old son Sylvester Apollo Bear – announced their separation in 2022 after marrying in 2018, following just two weeks of dating.

Gossip blogs speculated at the time Ratajkowski filed for divorce because Bear-McClard had cheated on her.

Sebastian Bear-McClard and Emily Ratajkowski attend the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party. Photo / Getty Images

But last week, on March 29, a report in Variety revealed the film producer is at the centre of a number of disturbing allegations, with three women accusing him of non-consensual sex and grooming – some of which allegedly occurred while he was married to the model.

A spokesperson for Bear-McClard, 42, said the producer declined to comment on the allegations, Variety reported.

Ratajkowski, 31, also declined to comment on the allegations in the Variety piece, but friends told the outlet she was not surprised.

Now, in a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, Ratajkowski described what she’s been living through as one of the “most traumatic experiences of [her] entire life”.

She said she wouldn’t go into detail about the “horrifying” year she’s had because she doesn’t want to jeopardise gaining sole custody of her son.

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“I’m scared,” she said. “I’m learning that outspoken women don’t often get their children.”

The rhetoric around her split – questions of how “any man could possibly cheat on Emily Ratajkowski” – didn’t surprise her, she told the Los Angeles Times, but made her sad.

“The world is pretty brutal to women, no matter what they look like.”

In an episode last month of the Going Mental podcast, Ratajkowski told host Eileen Kelly, “[It] doesn’t matter who you are, or how ‘perfect’ you are or whatever.” She said she tried “everything” to save her marriage.

“I didn’t have the courage to leave for a long time. I was really, really unhappy. I was like, 100 pounds [45kg] and I had just had a baby. I got really skinny because I was not okay,” she said.

The mother-of-one said she tried to take antidepressants because she was “sure there was something wrong with me”.

“I think so much of what I learned coming out of that relationship is to trust your instincts. Gaslighting is a real thing.”

She told Kelly that the birth of her son, just a year prior, made the decision to leave all the more difficult – as did the societal pressure for people to find (and stay with) one person forever.

“Every piece of media we consume from the second we are born is basically this idea of finding a partner that completes and validates you,” Ratajkowski said.

“Plus, I had just had a child, so I really wanted to have that family. So it was especially hard for me to totally walk away.”

Without revealing what happened, Ratajkowski said she walked away after Bear-McClard crossed a line for the last time.

“For me, it was so clear, and then it just became clearer and clearer and clearer - which was good, which was clarifying.”