It’s hard to believe it’s been six years since Benny and Josh Safdie gave us “Uncut Gems,” the influential thriller that turned Adam Sandler into the embodiment of pure cinematic anxiety. So, why exactly did Josh and Benny Safdie split after making that film? That’s the question many have been asking for a few years now.
Josh and Benny were coming off three acclaimed films and were then supposed to shoot a baseball-themed movie starring Adam Sandler and Ben Affleck, which never materialized. Rumors started—some claimed one brother went full MAGA, while the duo blamed the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in conversations with friends.
However, Page Six’s Tatiana Siegel now claims to have the answer. Apparently, the feud started on the set of their 2017 film “Good Time,” with Benny cutting ties with his brother in 2023 after he “learned the full scope of the event.”
“Good Time” involved casting a 17-year-old girl to portray a prostitute in a scene requiring nudity and simulated sex with non-actor Buddy Duress (real name Michael Stathis), a recent prison releasee with a criminal history who was reportedly high during filming—which is just about the most Safdie-esque thing imaginable.
During the shoot in New York, with Josh monitoring on a screen and Benny handling sound, sources allege Buddy exposed himself and crudely propositioned a minor while cameras continued rolling. Multiple on-set sources say Josh, the lead director, learned of the actress’s age only after the scene, as she became traumatized—an incident critics argue violated SAG rules and industry standards protecting minors.
The Safdies cut the disputed scene from “Good Time” before its 2017 Cannes premiere, citing “creative reasons,” but the issue resurfaced in 2022 when Benny learned the “Good Time” actress was a minor, creating a rift between the brothers. Josh blamed former producing partner Bear-McClard for hiring her, while Bear-McClard disputed responsibility and noted he was not present during the incident. The Safdies later cut ties with him and moved to dissolve their shared production company.
Despite rising tensions, the Safdies continued working together for another nine months and were in early 2023 pre-production on that Sandler-Affleck movie. However, their partnership reportedly ended in March 2023, after a Variety report on Bear-McClard’s divorce filing surfaced and details of the “Good Time” incident were revealed.
The Netflix project with Sandler was abruptly scrapped, and the brothers went their separate ways. Josh moved on to “Marty Supreme” with Timothée Chalamet, while Benny shifted to “The Smashing Machine” with Dwayne Johnson.
Benny recently told Empire that their careers as filmmakers always meant solo work, and that’s going back to their film school days. “We started making movies separately in college,” he says. “Then we’d converge on something together, and when that ended, it was just natural to chase our individual interests.”
However, no matter how much denial comes from these talented brothers, their feud doesn’t seem to have ended—they recently attended the same wedding but ended up at separate tables. They aren’t even on speaking terms. A reunion is very unlikely.
Take note of the timing. This story drops just as Josh’s “Marty Supreme” has positioned Timothée Chalamet as the frontrunner for Best Actor — was it leaked by a rival studio looking to sabotage the awards campaign? Food for thought.