Jason Bateman Apologizes For Defending Jeffrey Tambor in NYT Interview
Actor Jason Bateman has come to see that he was wrong to defend his Arrested Development co-star Jeffrey Tambor and has issued a formal apology on Twitter.
During an interview between the cast of Arrested Development and Sopan Deb of The New York Times Wednesday, Bateman appeared to defend the behavior that Tambor exhibited on set, particularly when he allegedly verbally abused co-star Jessica Walter.
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
… sitting right there!
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.
I should’ve focused more on what the most important…— Jason Bateman (@batemanjason) May 24, 2018
…part of it all is – there’s never any excuse for abuse, in any form, from any gender. And, the victim’s voice needs to be heard and respected.
Period.I didn’t say that and instead said a bunch of other stuff and not very well.
I deeply, and sincerely, apologize.— Jason Bateman (@batemanjason) May 24, 2018
“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,” Bateman tweeted. “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.”
During the interview with Deb, Bateman seemed determined to contextualize Tambor’s actions, thereby somewhat appearing to excuse them. Many on Twitter and several publications, including The Daily Beast and Jezebel, called Bateman out for his actions.
“It’s a very amorphous process, this sort of shit that we do, you know, making up fake life,” Bateman said during the interview. “It’s a weird thing, and it is a breeding ground for atypical behavior and certain people have certain processes.”
“There’s all kinds of things that go into the stew so it’s a little narrow to single that one particular thing that is getting attention from our show,” he later added.
[image via screengrab]
