‘Horrifies me’: Heartbreaking new details of Emily Ratajkowski’s divorce

Emily Ratajkowski has given rare insight into her marriage to – and divorce from – film producer Sebastian Bear-McClard in a new interview.

Emily Ratajkowski has given rare insight into her marriage to – and divorce from – film producer Sebastian Bear-McClard in a new interview.

After dating for just two weeks, the former couple were married in a New York courthouse in February 2018. The model gave birth to their son, Sylvester, in March 2021, and split from Bear-McClard the following July, amid rumours he had cheated on her. Multiple women went on to accuse him of sexual misconduct, grooming and assault in March last year.

In a conversation with author Sarah Manguso for Vogue, Ratajkowski said she viewed marriage as “a romantic thing” that would “ultimately be a partnership” – a perspective that changed after the birth of her son.

“I never cooked, and suddenly I was not just cooking, but also being the breadwinner, while simultaneously organising our social schedule and being the primary caretaker of our child,” the 32-year-old said.

Emily Ratajkowski has given rare insight into her marriage to – and divorce from – film producer Sebastian Bear McClard. Picture: Andrew Toth/Getty Images for Kahala Brands

The My Body author and podcaster added that it wasn’t her intention to marry “someone who needed me to feel small”.

“And yet, by the end of my marriage … my world was suddenly extremely small and less important, less valuable,” Ratajkowski said.

“It was a slow devolution from ‘Oh, we’re partners, and this person respects all that I’m doing’, to feeling like a possession.”

The couple split in July 2022 following four years of marriage. Picture: Instagram

Ratajkowski said she was made to feel ‘like a possession’. Picture: Angela Weiss/AFP

Ratajkowski also reflected on having to “really watch” her behaviour and “control my responses” throughout her divorce proceedings, in which she sought sole custody of her and Bear-McClard’s son.

“I’m still actually reeling from that,” she said.

“Making people question their reality is a fundamental pillar of abuse, physical or emotional. We don’t spend enough time talking about that.

“Betrayal trauma absolutely falls under that umbrella, because you think you have one reality and someone has gone to great lengths to assure you that you exist in this reality and that you’re ultimately safe, and then you discover that you are not.”

With her son, Sylvester. Picture: Instagram

Ratajkowski debuted two dazzling ‘divorce rings’. Picture: Instagram

The interview comes after Ratajkowski earlier this year unveiled a pair of dazzling “divorce rings”, repurposed from her former engagement ring by its designer, jeweller Alison Chemla.

“It was a fun project to work on together amidst a hugely transitional period in my life. The ring became symbolic to me – some kind of token or evidence of my life becoming my own again,” she said at the time, adding that she “loves them so much I haven’t been able to take them off”.

“It’s been a crazy couple of years, and finally I feel a sense of peace within myself and about the life and future I have and will continue to build with my son,” she said.

“Somehow, these rings feel like a reminder that I can make myself happy in ways I never imagined.”