Jason Bateman Apologizes for Mansplaining During 'Arrested Development' Cast Interview

Somebody call Jessie Bowers

BY Sarah MurphyPublished May 24, 2018

Jason Bateman has taken to Twitter to apologize for comments he made in a recent New York Times interview with the cast of Arrested Development.
 
The group conversation went viral yesterday (May 23) after plenty of people pointed out the male cast members' total lack of respect for female actors Jessica Walter and Alia Shawkat. The interviewer brought up the allegations against Jeffrey Tambor on the set of Transparent, as well as a past "blowup" between Tambor and Walter on the set of Arrested Development.
 
As they've been doing since the allegations against Tambor emerged, the male cast members of Arrested Development jumped to the defence of the onscreen Bluth family patriarch.
 
In the NYT interview, Walter (audibly crying) said, "I have to let go of being angry at him," referencing Tambor's outburst on set.
 
Tambor claims that he had "profusely apologized," at which point Bateman jumped in an attempted to justify his colleague's on-set behaviour.
 
"Again, not to belittle it or excuse it or anything, but in the entertainment industry it is incredibly common to have people who are, in quotes, "difficult," he said. "It's a weird thing, and it is a breeding ground for atypical behaviour and certain people have certain processes."
 
Shawkat, the only cast member who has publicly defended Tambor's accusers, interjected. "But that doesn't mean it's acceptable," she said. "And the point is that things are changing, and people need to respect each other differently."
 
Tony Hale added, "We've all had moments."
 
"I agree with everybody," David Cross chimed in. "And I think it's important to note — and it hasn't been noted — that this kind of behaviour that's being described, it didn't just come out of the blue. It wasn't zero to 60. There is a cumulative effect sometimes."
 
Walter said, "Jason says this happens all the time. In like almost 60 years of working, I've never had anybody yell at me like that on a set. And it's hard to deal with, but I'm over it now."
 
When Walter argued that no other cast members had treated her the way Tambor did ("Not like that. That was bad."), Bateman continued to stuff his foot further into his mouth, saying:
 
Again, there is context. What we do for a living is not normal, and therefore the process is not normal sometimes, and to expect it to be normal is to not understand what happens on set. Again, not to excuse it, Alia, but to be surprised by people having a wobbly route to their goal, their process — it's very rarely predictable. All I can say, personally, is I have never learned more from an actor that I've worked with than Jeffrey Tambor. And I consider him one of my favourite, most valued people in my life.
 
The internet lost its collective mind reading the interview, and leapt to the defence of Walter.
 
Following the backlash, Bateman has now responded with a public apology via Twitter. Read it below.
 
The first half of the new season of Arrested Development arrives on Netflix on May 29.
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