James Bond Director Under Fire For Numerous Sexual Misconduct Allegations
No Time to Die director Cary Fukunaga is facing a rising wave of allegations of sexual misconduct, which do not seem to be going away.
More allegations of misconduct are being leveled against Cary Fukunaga, the increasingly embattled film director. The wave of allegations against Fukunaga recently began with an Instagram post from actress Rachelle Vinberg, who claimed to have been diagnosed with PTSD after a relationship with Fukunaga that began after she turned 18. Soon thereafter, more individuals began coming forward to allege similar experiences with the director of No Time to Die; many of the allegations were of sexual misconduct and some of Cary Fukunaga using his authority and perceived power as a Hollywood figure to manipulate, and some that were both. At the present time, there do not appear to be any legal actions that have begun regarding the allegations.
The allegations against Cary Fukunaga generally hold the same characteristics. As reported by Rolling Stone, there is apparently a widespread allegation that the director uses his power as a filmmaker to cross professional lines on film sets and in interactions with young women. In particular, the Rolling Stone article cites numerous individuals (some named, some anonymous) who claim he appears to use the staff of his film productions as a potential dating pool. In addition, there are some claims that Cary Fukunaga has interfered in the hiring process of various actresses for his own potential gain, both by promising film roles or implying that he could assist. At least one individual claimed that Cary Fukunaga had pressured him into giving the director a co-writing credit on a project.
in case anyone didn’t see this, writer/producer nick cuse has spoken out in support of the victims of cary fukunaga and shared his own experience of being manipulated into having his work stolen by cary, who he describes as a “vile cult leader” pic.twitter.com/buZw001ZZK
— carey (@brokebackstan) May 14, 2022
Cary Fukunaga first came to prominence in Hollywood by directing Sin Nombre, an adventure thriller that racked up a slew of awards and nominations. He followed up with the well-regarded Charlotte Brontë adaptation Jane Eyre with Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender, then the acclaimed Beasts of No Nation starring Idris Elba. However, it was the HBO breakout series True Detective that really made Cary Fukunaga into a star. He directed all eight episodes of the first season, winning an Emmy in the process. That launched him into co-writing the two-part film adaptation of Stephen King’s It (of which he was also attached to direct for a while), and finally to No Time to Die, becoming the first American to direct a James Bond film.
This is another of the increasingly common waves of allegations of sexual misconduct against powerful figures in Hollywood. While Cary Fukunaga may be the most recent of these, he is certainly far from the first. Actor Kevin Spacey saw himself removed from television and film projects after a series of allegations of sexual assaults against him; he removed himself from the public eye for a time period and seemed about to begin starring in films once more before four counts of sexual assault were charged against him in the United Kingdom.
For his part, Cary Fukunaga has denied all allegations against himself via his legal team. It will have to be seen where things go from here with the director and whether there will be any lawsuits involved in the matter. We will update with information as it comes.
