Jason Bateman’s Apology For That Trainwreck NYT Interview Was Also A Trainwreck
"It sounds like I'm insensitive to Jessica. I am not."
A recent interview in the New York Times with the cast of Arrested Development has been widely criticised for being a horrifying example of Hollywood’s boys’ club mentality.
In a roundtable discussion, the cast of the hit show discussed the allegations of abuse against their fellow castmate Jeffrey Tambor on the set of Transparent. During the talk, Jessica Walter (who plays Lucille Bluth) revealed that Jeffrey Tambor had verbally harassed her on the set of Arrested Development.
“He never crossed the line on our show, with any, you know, sexual whatever. Verbally, yes, he harassed me, but he did apologise. I have to let it go. And I have to give you a chance to, you know, for us to be friends again,” said Walter.
As awful as this all was, it was the response of the male actors in the interview which raised the hackles of the world. To put it simply, they gaslit and belittled Jessica Walter as she attempted to talk about the abuse, basically closing ranks around Tambor.
A particularly egregious offender in the interview was Jason Bateman, who plays Michael Bluth, and who did a LOT of talking over Jessica Walter.
“Not to belittle what happened,” he said, “but it’s something which we’ve all done, by the way.”
Now he’s taken to Twitter to apologise for the interview, saying that he was “incredibly embarrassed and deeply sorry to have done that to Jessica.”
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
However, a lot of people remain unconvinced by his apology.
Jason Bateman’s apology makes no sense. If you know that was horrible behavior then what made you do it? None of what he tweeted this morning occurred to him in a room, sitting opposite a crying, clearly hurt woman. It only occurred to him after he was made aware of the backlash?
— Lexi Alexander (@Lexialex) May 24, 2018
guess I'll continue not seeking out the electrifying on-screen work of jason bateman.
— Mitra Jouhari (@tweetrajouhari) May 24, 2018
Jason Bateman: “Well, that interview went great!”
Narrator: “It didn’t.”— John Wellington Ennis (@johnennis) May 23, 2018
Jason Bateman don't you have 10 more of the same movie to make
— Marc (@MarcSnetiker) May 23, 2018
A better apologogy would be a joint one (on camera) with your male co-stars who were in that room with you as it’s the ‘boys club/pack mentality’ that is truly toxic & the barrier to movements like #MeToo making strides. Us men need to be true allies not gaslighting mansplainers!
— John (@Jthemarketer) May 24, 2018
The fifth season of Arrested Development premieres May 29 on Netflix.