Safdie Brothers split over controversial sex scene using minor after ex-con they hired exposed himself
The alleged reason for the split between Benny and Josh Safdie has revealed to date back to an incident on the set of Good Time, a Robert Pattinson film that put the directorial duo on the map.
Josh and Benny Safdie are best known for the Adam Sandler film Uncut Gems, but have both gone on to make films that were major contenders this awards season.
After their professional split was announced in 2023, Benny made Smashing Machine with The Rock, while Josh made Marty Supreme with Timothée Chalamet, earning multiple Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Director.
However, the brother's split reportedly dates back to an incident on the set of Good Time in 2016, in which a 17-year-old girl was cast to play a prostitute for a sex scene in the film.
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It was reported by Variety in 2023 that Sebastian Bear-McClard, a producer on the film, had been accused of sexual misconduct by several women in the wake of his divorce to model Emily Ratajkowski.
Amongst these claims were those of the 17-year-old girl, who said she wasn’t told her scene would involve nudity and that the actor in the scene exposed himself and asked if he could ‘stick it in’.
The Safdie brothers are well known for casting ‘real’ people and not just actors in their films, with the girl's scene partner in question being Buddy Durress, a recently released convict.
Durress died in 2023 of a heroin overdose.
Whilst the claims were made public by Variety in 2023 as part of Ratajkowski’s divorce proceedings, focus on these has been renewed by a Page Six report citing the incident as the reason for the split between Josh and Benny.
Page Six claim that Durress was high at the time of the scene, which both brothers were present for, with one anonymous on-set source saying: “Any director who had seen that should have yelled ‘Cut!’ and stopped the scene, but Josh let it continue.”
The outlet also stated that three different sources claimed that Josh was made aware of her age shortly after the scene was shot when she began to spiral.
Benny reportedly only found out her age in 2023 when Variety’s report came out, something described as the ‘final straw’ for the director to continue working with his brother.
The anonymous girl said in a statement obtained by Variety that she had been contacted via Instagram by Bear-McClard and had agreed to be in a scene with British actor Robert Pattinson, who starred in Good Time.
She was unaware of what her scene would entail until she was taken to a ‘cramped room’ where she was naked and stood ‘in front of nearly a dozen male cast and crew members’, including the Safdies.
She said she was ‘utterly stunned and felt terrified’ in the statement, adding: “My distress only worsened when out of nowhere, [Duress] whispered in my ear if 'he could stick it in' while the cameras rolled. I said 'no'.”
Beyond being a horrific incident in and of itself, it will likely have major implications for the Oscars race.
Chalamet previously looked dead set to win his first ever Best Actor nomination, with Marty Supreme nominated in nine different categories.
LADbible have contacted representatives for Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie for comment.
Topics: Timothée Chalamet, TV and Film, Film, Celebrity, Sex and Relationships
Michael Slavin