Jason Bateman is 'deeply sorry' for his mansplaining defense of Jeffrey Tambor during a New York Times interview
- During an interview with the New York Times published Wednesday, "Arrested Development" star Jason Bateman was quick to defend Jeffrey Tambor, who had admitted to verbally abusing their co-star, Jessica Walter.
- Walter said through tears that the way Tambor treated her was unlike anything she ever experienced in 60 years in the industry.
- Bateman has since apologized on Twitter, saying he was "incredibly embarrassed" that he mansplained a victim.
"Arrested Development" star Jason Bateman has apologized for his defense of verbally abusive behavior in the entertainment industry. In a series of tweets sent out on Thursday, Bateman said he was "deeply sorry," that he shouldn't have tried to "mansplain," and that he was "incredibly embarrassed."
In a New York Times interview with the "Arrested Development" cast published Wednesday, the male actors from the show (excluding Michael Cera, who was not present) defended Jeffrey Tambor in front of Jessica Walter, who, through tears, said that Tambor's abusive language on set years ago hurt her.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter this month, Tambor discussed getting fired from Amazon's "Transparent" after two allegations of sexual harassment surfaced against him in November (which he denies). In the same interview, he mentioned a "blowout" with Walter on the "Arrested Development" set.
Many readers were shocked to see the "Arrested Development" men jump to defend Tambor, including Jason Bateman, who defended Tambor by saying his behavior was normal in the entertainment industry. "It's a weird thing, and it is a breeding ground for atypical behaviour and certain people have certain processes," he said.
But Walter disagreed. "Almost 60 years of working," Walter said through tears, "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."
Actress Alia Shawkat also chimed in to disagree with Bateman's stance that behavior like Tambor's on set was normal: "That doesn't mean that it's acceptable, and that's the point is that things are changing and people need to respect each other."
After uproar about Bateman's comments in the interview, he took to Twitter to apologize.
"I'm horrified that I wasn't more aware of how this incident affected her," Bateman wrote. "I'm incredibly embarrassed and deeply sorry to have done that to Jessica. This is a big learning moment for me. I shouldn't have tried so hard to mansplain, or fix a fight, or make everything okay."