'Uncut Gems' Safdie Brothers, The Real Reason for Their Split... "Unethical Conduct on Set with Minors"

The Safdie Brothers, who became icons of the American independent film scene with the movie 'Uncut Gems', have revealed the shocking reason for their split. It was not a simple creative difference, but a serious ethical issue that occurred on set.

According to reports from Page Six and other foreign media on the 27th (Korean time), the split between brothers Josh Safdie (41) and Benny Safdie (39) stemmed from an incident that occurred during the filming of the movie 'Good Time' in 2017.

◆ "In front of minors..." The truth revealed late

Reports indicate that during the filming, actor Buddy was filmed exposing himself and making lewd suggestions to a minor cast member while the camera was rolling. This was a clear violation of the American Actors Guild (SAG) regulations and industry ethics. The problematic scene was deleted before being submitted to the Cannes Film Festival, but Benny Safdie only learned of this fact in 2022. Benny was reportedly shocked that his brother Josh and the then-producer Sebastian Bear-McClard failed to manage this properly. Josh blamed the producer, but the trust with Benny had already been broken.

◆ Adam Sandler project falls apart

Due to this conflict, the highly anticipated Netflix baseball movie project starring Adam Sandler and Ben Affleck was abruptly canceled during the pre-production stage. The brothers decided to dissolve their joint production company and go their separate ways. Recently, the two were seen attending a friend's wedding together, but they were seated at different tables and reportedly did not exchange a word, indicating a cold relationship.

◆ Why did it come out now?

Notably, the timing of this report is significant. Currently, brother Josh Safdie is campaigning for the Academy Award for Best Actor with the film 'Marty Supreme', starring Timothée Chalamet. There are speculations in Hollywood that a competing studio may have intentionally leaked this information to damage Josh's reputation and disrupt the awards race.

Meanwhile, younger brother Benny Safdie is making his solo directorial debut with the film 'The Smashing Machine', starring Dwayne Johnson.