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Jason Bateman Apologizes for Awkward 'Arrested Development' Interview, Defending Jeffrey Tambor

Home / News / Jason Bateman Apologizes for Awkward 'Arrested Development' Interview, Defending Jeffrey Tambor

By TheBlast Staff on May 23, 2018 at 9:41 PM PDT

Jason Bateman is trying to do major damage control after downplaying the abuse Jessica Walter suffered on set of "Arrested Development" by Jeffrey Tambor during an interview with the cast.

Bateman started tweeting out his mea culpa early Thursday: "Based on listening to the NYT interview and hearing people’s thoughts online, I realize that I was wrong here."

He's referring to an interview that aired earlier this week with the NY Times to promote the upcoming season of the Netflix show. In what could have been a scripted scene of the dysfunctional family show, Bateman, Tony Hale, Will Arnett, Tambor, Alia Shawkat and Jessica Walter got into a heated discussion when the recent allegations against Tambor were brought up.

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The former "Transparent" star recently admitted to verbally abusing Walter on "AD" during an onset "blowup." Bateman immediately defended the actor, chalking his behavior up as common in the entertainment industry. His feelings were backed up by Arnett, who almost seemed to be making light of the situation as Walter was driven to tears.

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Shawkat was the one star who seemed to come to Walter's defense, chiding her co-stars that his behavior was not acceptable.

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Bateman now says, "It sounds 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 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 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 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."

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Tony Hale added an apology as well, tweeting Thursday morning, "I have reached out to Jessica personally to apologize. Arrested Development is one of my families. Regardless of my intentions, it is clear that my words, both said and unsaid, served to minimize Jessica’s pain and for that I am extremely sorry."

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