Wednesday 1 June 2022 11:04 PM Bond director Cary Fukunaga accused of 'abusing his power' with women on set of ... trends now
No Time to Die director Cary Fukunaga is being accused of inappropriate behavior and 'crossing a professional line' with multiple female staffers on the set of his upcoming miniseries - weeks after multiple actresses came forward to accuse the filmmaker of 'grooming' young women.
Speaking anonymously to Rolling Stone, several sources working on the upcoming AppleTV+ miniseries Masters of the Air said the director engaged in 'absolute, clear-cut abuse of power' while interacting with young female actors and crew members.
In particular, the insiders said, 44-year-old Fukunaga honed in on two of the WWII set production's background actresses - one of whom had recently turned 18.
During filming for one scene where the two young actresses dressed as prostitutes from the 1940s, the sources said Fukunaga started taking pictures of the women, encouraging them to pose suggestively as they bent against a wall and knelt on the ground.
'That was my first gut check,' one of the insiders told the magazine. 'It was way past the line. There’s no sort of argument… that it is OK in any way. It’s an absolute, clear-cut abuse of power.'
The source said that Fukunaga, one of Hollywood’s youngest major directors and the first American tapped to direct a Bond film, used the guise of needing the photos for continuity purposes - a task not typically associated with the duties of a director.
The entire interaction took roughly 10 minutes, according to the insiders.
The sources further alleged that Fukunaga would regularly flirt with young women on-set at the same time. Three sources said Fukunaga showed interest in at least three young female staffers in the show's cast and crew during filming.
No Time to Die director Cary Fukunaga is being accused of inappropriate behavior and 'crossing a professional line' with multiple female staffers on the set of his upcoming miniseries - weeks after multiple actresses came forward to accuse him of abuse
Anonymous sources working on the upcoming AppleTV+ miniseries said the director - who became the first American to head a Bond film last year - engaged in 'absolute, clear-cut abuse of power' while interacting with young female actors and crew
Crew members recall whispering amongst themselves about Fukunaga’s advances and spending so much time with the younger female members of the cast and crew.
They asserted that Fukunaga crossed a professional line with his actions, and that he purposely used his position of power in a manner that left others present uncomfortable.
Neither of the actresses were named by the production staffers.
The accusations come less than two weeks after Fukunaga - whose other projects include 2011's Jane Eyre and the critically acclaimed first season of HBO's True Detective - was accused of sexual harassment and 'grooming' by three young actresses, one of whom claimed she was targeted days after turning 18.
The allegations surfaced last month after Fukunaga posted a story to his Instagram declaring his support for women's rights after a leaked document revealed the US Supreme Court has plans to overturn Roe v Wade.
Fukunaga - who made headlines in October last year after he touted a desire to create a less misogynistic Bond film - wrote: 'Meanwhile in America the supreme court is about to push us one step closer to war with ourselves by legitimatizing a war against women's rights.'
The comments spurred Rachelle Vinberg, the 23-year-old star of HBO's Betty - who first worked with Fukunaga when she was 18 - to speak out against the director, accusing him of 'grooming' her years until she started to suffer from PTSD.
The pair met on the set of a Samsung commercial that Fukunaga - the day after Vinberg's birthday. She alleges the pair began a consensual relational which turned sexual when she was 21.
'So he posted this today. And it p****s me off cause he literally doesn't care about women,' Vinberg, a professional skateboarder from Long Island, said in a series of Instagram posts.
'He only traumatizes them. I spent years being scared of him. Man's a groomer and has been doing this for years. Beware women.'
She further claimed Fukunaga told her their relationship, which was 'completely fully intimate', had to be kept secret and that he introduced her as his cousin, niece or sister when they were in public.
Vinberg, who posted pictures of herself with the director, added: 'I tried to reach out to him in the past about how he made me feel and he's never taken accountability, he's basically brushed me off.'
She also called the director out for what she viewed as a hypocritical, pandering Instagram post. 'And it pisses me off ’cause he literally doesn’t care about women. He only traumatizes them. I’ve spoken to many girls. F**k you, Cary.'
The allegations come mere weeks after Rachelle Vinberg, 23, pictured her with Fukunaga took to Instagram to call out the director, accusing him of 'grooming' her years until she started to suffer from PTSD
Vinberg, 23, pictured her with Fukunaga, met on the set of a Samsung commercial in 2016 - the day after Vinberg's birthday. She alleges the pair began an 'intimate' and 'traumatizing' relationship which turned sexual when she was 21
Actress Margaret Qualley, who was romantically linked to Fukunaga in 2017 when she was 22, 'liked' a post from Vinberg where she asserted she was “gaslighting” men on Instagram.
'It had to be a secret because it would look bad for him, because people wouldn’t understand, because it would make him look like a predator,' Vinberg said.
She also posted multiple photos of her with the director, as well as screenshots of DMs with others who claim they had too been harassed. 'He’s basically brushed me off, gaslit me… Then I found out about all these other girls was like, "Oh, this is a pattern."'
The online assertion prompted a response from Fukunaga's
