Arrested Development Stars Apologize For Minimizing Jeffrey Tambor’s Verbal Harassment Of Jessica Walter

Arrested Development stars Jason Bateman, Tony Hale and David Cross have apologized for excusing Jeffrey Tambor’s verbal harassment of Jessica Walter. The three actors posted to Twitter to comment in response to a New York Times interview with the cast of the series, in which Walter tearfully said that Tambor verbally “harrassed me, but he did apologize” and that in “almost 60 years of working, I’ve never had anybody yell at me like that on a set.”

In the same interview, Bateman offered his explanation of Tambor’s behavior by saying, “in the entertainment industry it is incredibly common to have people who are, in quotes, ‘difficult’…it’s a very amorphous process, this sort of [expletive] that we do, you know, making up fake life. It’s a weird thing, and it is a breeding ground for atypical behavior and certain people have certain processes.” Hale also said, “we’ve all had moments.”

Bateman posted to Twitter noting that he wasn’t excusing Tambor’s behavior or trying to be insensitve to Walter, adding that he “completely underestimated the feelings of the victim… I’m incredibly embarrassed and deeply sorry to have done that to Jessica.” Hale and Cross have also posted, with Hale apologizing for “minimiz[ing] Walter’s pain” and Cross noting he apologized privately to 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 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.

— Tony Hale (@MrTonyHale) May 24, 2018

I have been off Twitter at the behest of my wife. I have apologized to Jessica in private (the way I prefer to conduct apologies to people). I do not have a PR firm repping me. I hope this interview I did earlier is edifying on at least a tiny level. https://t.co/gXVgmJkdfj

— )))David Cross((( (@davidcrosss) May 24, 2018