Multiple women have publicly accused “No Time To Die” director Cary Fukunaga of inappropriate workplace behavior.
The women are claiming that the 44-year-old director used his power and influence to coerce young women into having relationships with him, according to IndieWire. One anonymous source shared the information with Rolling Stone, claiming that Fukunaga engaged in an “absolute, clear-cut abuse of power” during his interactions with actresses and crew members on the set of his new project, the AppleTV+ miniseries “Masters of the Air.”
Actress and skateboarder Rachelle Vinberg, 23, said she met Fukunaga when she was 18. Vinberg shared a selfie she had with the director earlier this month and wrote in the caption, “I spent years being scared of him. Man’s a groomer and has been doing this s*** for years. Beware, women.”
She also reposted a screenshot of Fukunaga’s pro-abortion Instagram Story, which he shared just after the Supreme Court draft opinion that would potentially overturn Roe v. Wade was making headlines in May.
“So he posted this today,” Vinberg wrote. “And it pisses me off ’cause he literally doesn’t care about women. He only traumatizes them. I’ve spoken to many girls. F*** you, Cary.”
The director denied these allegations with a statement from his attorney, Michael Plonsker.
“There is nothing salacious about pursuing friendships or consensual romantic relationships with women,” the statement read, adding that “no one ever — not once — voiced such sentiments to” Fukunaga regarding harassing behavior.
“He creates a work environment that is creative, collaborative and welcoming to all,” the statement asserted.
Plonsker also acknowledged Vinberg’s claims specifically, saying Fukunaga “had a very brief and consensual romantic relationship with [Vinberg] that has ended.” The statement said Vinberg was “clearly not happy with Mr. Fukunaga, but as everyone knows, relationships end all of the time and many times one person (or both) are unhappy.”
Twin sisters Cailin Loesch and Hannah Loesch shared a blog post in early May which also accused Fukunaga of inappropriate behavior on the set of the Netflix series “Maniac.”
“We were not raped, fired from a job, or made to do anything physical against our will,” the joint statement says. “So why does it sting so bad now to see this man, the one who we willingly walked away from, propped up as the honorable creator who brought a much-needed, ‘feminist twist’ to an iconic film franchise?”
“The point of writing it is not to start a witch hunt directed at Cary, or any one man. We will never even know for sure what his intentions were. We only know what happened and how it made us feel. We’re sharing it because we know we aren’t alone in our experience, and the way it has stayed with us and worn on our hearts.”
The Loesch sisters claim Fukunaga asked them if they would ever engage in a threesome while spending time in a hot tub together. He allegedly said, “incest is fine ‘if all parties are okay with it.’”
Two other sources from the “Maniac” set said the director always had young women follow him around. “We used to call it his fan club,” one said. “I’d be like, ‘Why the hell are all these young girls always hanging around like puppy dogs?’”
Model Lizzie Swanson and her boyfriend, actor Charlie Plummer, shared Vinberg’s post about Fukunaga.
Swanson told Rolling Stone that she “knew Cary for a time and though he never physically acted upon anything, the emotional and mental patterns and manipulative tactics” that she went through “are very, very much the same” as what Vinberg alleged.
“It’s absolutely f***ed up and disgusting,” Swanson told the publication. “I believe [the accusers] and stand by them fully. He needs to be stopped.”
Source: Dailywire
