Jason Bateman has apologized for “insensitive” remarks he made during an interview with The New York Times promoting the return of the Netflix series Arrested Development.
During the interview, Arrested Development co-star Jessica Walter discussed—through tears—when co-star Jeffrey Tambor verbally abused her on set. She said that she hadn’t been yelled at the way Tambor yelled at her in her 60-year career in the entertainment industry.
Bateman’s response to Walter’s comments appeared to brush off her experience with Tambor, who faced sexual misconduct claims during his time on the Amazon series Transparent that he has denied. Tambor is no longer part of that series’ cast.
“Not to belittle it, but a lot of stuff happens in 15 years,” Bateman said in the interview. “And I can say that no matter what anybody in this room has ever done—and we’ve all done a lot, with each other, for each other, against each other—I wouldn’t trade it for the world and I have zero complaints.”
In another part of the interview, Bateman again prefaced his comments by saying he didn’t want to “belittle it or excuse it,” but said that it’s “incredibly common” for the entertainment industry to have “difficult” people. He added that the industry is “a breeding ground for atypical behavior and certain people have certain processes.”
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Not surprisingly, Bateman’s comments were met with a firestorm for being insensitive and belittling of Walter’s experience. And it ultimately prompted Bateman to apologize on Twitter.
“Based on listening to the NYT interview and hearing people’s thoughts online, I realize that I was wrong here,” Bateman tweeted on Thursday morning. “I sound like I’m condoning yelling at work. I do not. It sounds like I’m excusing Jeffery. I do not. It sounds like I’m insensitive to Jessica. I am not.”
Based on listening to the NYT interview and hearing people’s thoughts online, I realize that I was wrong here.
I sound like I’m condoning yelling at work. I do not.
It sounds like I’m excusing Jeffery. I do not.
It sounds like I’m insensitive to Jessica. I am not.
In fact, I’m-— Jason Bateman (@batemanjason) May 24, 2018
– horrified that I wasn’t more aware of how this incident affected her.
I was so eager to let Jeffrey know that he was supported in his attempt to learn, grow and apologize that I completely underestimated the feelings of the victim, another person I deeply love – and she was..— Jason Bateman (@batemanjason) May 24, 2018
Bateman went on to say that “there’s never any excuse for abuse” and said that a “victim’s voice needs to be heard and respected.” He apologized for his comments and said that he had tried to “mainsplain” the incident. Mansplaining refers to a man trying to explain something to a woman in a condescending and patronizing way.
“I’m incredibly embarrassed and deeply sorry to have done that to Jessica,” Bateman wrote. “This is a big learning moment for me.”
Arrested Development‘s fifth season debuts on May 29 on Netflix.
