The Mansplaining Men of "Arrested Development" Have Apologised for Their Garbage NYT Interview

The roll-out for the long-awaited fifth season of Arrested Development has not been ideal.

Yesterday, the New York Times published an interview with most of the Bluth family, in which they discussed the recent controversy surrounding Emmy-winning star Jeffrey Tambor, who was accused of sexual harassment on the set of his other acclaimed program, Transparent, from which he’s been fired.

Prior to the interview, Tambor gave his side of the story to the Hollywood Reporter, during which he mentioned an unrelated "blow-up" with his Arrested Development co-star Jessica Walter.

The Times brought up the incident in front of the cast, which, in this instance, included Tambor, Walter, Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Tony Hale, David Cross and Alia Shawkat.

There's really only one GIF to capture the aftermath of the chat.

Bateman immediately chimed in to try and justify the high tempers on TV and film sets, before Shawkat intercepted to say, "that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable."

But Bateman, Cross and Hale continued to make the argument that this kind of thing is expected, even as Walter sat crying across from them. The actress, who plays the family matriarch, said she had "let go of being angry" at Tambor, while reiterating that in her "almost 60 years of working", she had "never had anybody yell at me like that on a set".

Social media reacted swiftly.

Jason Bateman: “Well, that interview went great!”
Narrator: “It didn’t.”

— John Wellington Ennis (@johnennis) May 23, 2018

*crosses Jason Bateman off the list*

— Nichole ✨✨✨ (@tnwhiskeywoman) May 23, 2018

Jessica Walter received a Golden Globe nomination in 1971, when Jason Bateman was two years old, and he thinks he should explain to her how show business works.

— Connor Goldsmith (@dreamoforgonon) May 23, 2018

Bateman, presumably after seeing all the tweets, shared an apology on Twitter, saying, "I was wrong here."

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

Hale kept his apology to a single tweet, explaining he’d reached out to Walter separately.

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

Meanwhile, Cross admitted to Gothamist that he and his co-stars "got what we deserved," adding an apology to Walter while explaining there’s "no excuse" for Tambor’s actions on the AD set.

The first part of Arrested Development’s fifth season debuts on Foxtel in Australia on 30 May.

Photo: Netflix