On Wednesday, the New York Times published an interview with the cast of Arrested Development. It did not go well. Jeffrey Tambor, Jason Bateman, Tony Hale, David Cross, Will Arnett, Jessica Walter and Alia Shawkat were all there, and it turned into an exercise in mansplaining harassment to a female victim of harassment. Jessica Walter wept as she tried to describe how no one in her lengthy, decades-long career had ever verbally harassed her like Jeffrey Tambor. As she wept, Jason Bateman, David Cross and Tony Hale all did the most to minimize and negate her experience and her feelings and defend Tambor. It was awful.
People were really angry at the men of AD. Jason Bateman got the brunt of the anger, for good reason – because he was the main one doing the mansplaining. He ended up making a f–ked up apology to Jessica on Twitter yesterday. He’s still canceled for me, whatever. Tony Hale also had something to say:
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
Which, frankly, is a better apology than the one Bateman offered up, even though Hale’s was shorter. Bateman’s apology was PR, it was “no really, you didn’t really read what you read, believe me, I’m still a nice guy!” So what of David Cross, the creep who was racist to Charlyne Yi, the same guy who married Amber Tamblyn and uses her as some kind of shield from criticism (I can’t be a sexist, racist douchebag because my wife is so woke!). The same guy who was sitting there, caping for Jeffrey Tambor as Jessica Walter wept? Well, of course he has thoughts.
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
The Gothamist interview he links to – you can read it here – was conducted on Thursday, in the wake of everyone canceling the sh-t out of all the men of AD. Cross goes on at length, but here’s one part, where he’s basically asked what it felt like to sit there and gaslight a victim of harassment in the middle of an interview:
“I totally get that. I don’t know how it comes out in print, and I know that there’s the audio going around, so that is what it is. There’s no qualifying that. I’ll say this: two people that I deeply respect, and I listen to and I love and appreciate, expressed to me after that interview their discomfort with it. One of those was Alia and the other was my wife. I listened to them, and I can’t and wouldn’t ever dismiss their take on something. And they are also two people who are aware of the bigger picture. So, it means even more than it normally would, which is a lot.
So I will unequivocally apologize to Jessica. I’m sorry that we behaved the way we behaved. Whatever the criticisms are, I will own up. I don’t even know what they are, as I said, I saw the initial thing but I jumped off at the behest of various people. And also I had to put my daughter to bed, so it was time to, you know, focus on what’s really important in the moment.
I don’t know outside of what I can speculate, just being on Twitter now for over a year and a half, and [knowing] what the situation is, I assume it’s a lot like—well it’s like what you said, you encapsulated it. I agreed with Alia that there was no excuse. There’s never an excuse ever for yelling at somebody and humiliating them in front of other people. And there was no excuse when Jessica did it. To Jessica’s credit, she eventually apologized to the actress, and felt bad about it. Jeffrey did as well, but it was a bigger deal, there were more people in the room and it was an extremely uncomfortable moment.
He had to be told by two women he respected – Alia and his wife – that what he did was wrong. He couldn’t figure it out on his own. He couldn’t sit there and watch Jessica weep and think “maybe I should defend her and not the guy who screamed at her.” He was incapable of understanding that without being scolded by his wife and younger costar. And then he mentions that Jessica yelled at someone too, and how come no one is making a big deal about that? When questioned about it he explained that Jessica basically took a minor issue with a stand-in and that it was really no big deal, nothing like what Tambor had done to Jessica, so why even bring it up? Because he just can’t help himself.
Incidentally, his woke wife Amber Tamblyn was on Twitter too after the NYT piece dropped. She tweeted: “I spoke to Alia at length. I corresponded with Jessica. Just because I’m publicly silent on sh-t doesn’t mean I’m not privately handling sh-t. Now that you’re updated on what I do behind the scenes, Twitter, keep my f–king name out of your @. Feel me? Have a great Memorial Day.” Oh, dear. For one, it’s not Amber’s responsibility to do damage control for her husband. Secondly, does she truly understand that her douchebag husband is using her as a shield? Three, Amber is considered one of the “founding members” of Time’s Up but now she suddenly wants to handle sh-t privately when it’s about her husband?
Here’s the audio clip of Walter sobbing during the NYT interview:
Here’s audio of Jessica Walter CRYING, standing up for herself after all the men in the AD cast try to gaslight her into thinking Tambor’s harassment isn’t THAT bad. This is horrific. pic.twitter.com/innJv8LIYF
— Kevin T. Porter (@KevinTPorter) May 23, 2018
Photos courtesy of WENN.
So Amber can set fire to everyone else (rightly so), but no one should touch her husband? Got it.
To give her credit, she’s saying if people have a problem with her husband, they need to take it out on him rather than running to her and using her as a device to criticize him. Which I agree with – women aren’t responsible for the shitty things the men in their lives do and I think even more poorly of DC for trying to hide behind her skirts.
Right, I guess I don’t see the problem. She’s not telling others to leave her husband alone, she’s saying don’t direct it to her. I have no problems with that and I see no conflict with Time’s Up.
It was almost going to be a good apology, but damn if he just HAD to add “Well, Jessica yelled at somebody too one time!!”.
I’m glad it only took listening to women he cares about AFTER THE FACT to clue him in on what a jackass he is. :::sarcasm:::::
Exactly. Close but no cigar and he lost any points with the whole ‘she’s not innocent either’ card. Cheap shot.
I read that thing about Jessica and it was such a classic abuse move – “well, nobody’s hands are clean – sure she got her head bashed in, but this one time, I saw her call someone a bitch, so how innocent can she be?”
David Cross can go eff himself.
This just digs a deeper hole. Those guys just keep deflecting and minimizing what Jessica was saying. They’re still Team Jeffrey. I still don’t understand why they felt compelled to yap on his behalf, with him in the room during the interview!
I would imagine his wife’s “bigger picture” explanation may have included how the negative PR could affect *them*.
That’s how it’s always been. Men speak up for men when accused by women of abuse. Lie, steal, cheat, anything they can do to get a buddy off scot free, men have always done this.
I’m trying to make sense of how they can hear MeToo ongoing for months now and STILL think the way they handled this was ok. Completely ignored Jessica as she cried. And one of them is married to Amber T and the other has a sister Justine who is NOT a wallflower. Do they ignore the women in their lives? Or secretly hate them?
Right. And in the THR interview, Tambor talks about yelling at female crew members and making an executive producer cry on the set of Transparent. You can’t dodge Tambor’s history of abuse with a little dig at a Jessica. He’s been doing this to a lot of people apparently.
What some of these men dont realize is that we are honestly asking for the BARE MINIMUM of decency. We’re asking you not to do horrible things in the first place so theres no need to agonize how to apologize.
When will Amber drop this guy? He uses her time and time again as some shield for his misogynistic and racist behavior…
This
EXACTLY. Dudes are acting like it’s a burden to just NOT be an inappropriate d*ckbag. I am so sick of this sh*t.
I have a few male liberal friends who I deleted from my social media because of their ignorant comments re: #MeToo and #TimesUp. If you are still defending these dudes then we do not need your allyship.
I don’t GAF about the AD cast but I’ve always loved Bateman. I’m bummed he was so dismissive and callous. He definitely fooled me because I thought he was better than that. Sigh.
He fooled me as well. After listening to the audio clip, I’m doubly disappointed. Her voice is filled with emotion, and he just keeps going. Gaslighting.
To reuse a celeb gossip quote, he seems to have a sensitivity chip missing.
“We’re asking you not to do horrible things…”
And it’s as SIMPLE as keep your hands, outside voice, & perv thoughts to yourself. Why is that more challenging than doing their actual jobs?? Sheesh.
Well said.
I don’t care IF Amber is WOKE and one of the founding members of Time’s Up. She is married to a creep, and in my opinion, is in the same league of hypocrites as Lena Dunham.
This morning, I knew nothing of this story. This evening, I do. And my respect for her has diminished drastically. I don’t expect someone to know exactly how to handle a situation like this publicly, concerning their own husband, but I know that there’s got to be a better way to approach it than the one she appears to have chosen. It’s disappointing. And David Cross can go bathing with a toaster for all I care. What an ass. Same goes for Bateman and the rest.
These men are idiots with fake apologies…and Amber is ridiculous
Totally agree. He really sounds and acts like a douche and Amber has an annoying ‘holier than thou’ attitude.
Amber sounds like his babysitter and go to person for anything he’s done wrong to be justified
They are still cancelled. Also Amber grates in my every nerve now because she’s so hypocritical about so many things.
Anyways I’m not sure how people sit and watch people sob about things and don’t have a shred of empathy. Thats so cringe.
He’s a pig.
So Amber can insert herself in other conversations and publicly comment on someone else’s feelings on how they were excluded from the Me Too movement, she can comment on other men who have committed mistakes like her husband did, but Good God, don’t you dare @ her when it actually involves someone close to her publicly shaming another woman’s experience. She needs to have a seat. How is she any different than Rose and her army?
White women, I’m losing all my patience with you.
You’re not wrong. I’m disappointed in her.
Just curious why you had to insert race into this conversation?
Because it’s white women I’m losing patience with, not women in general.
Because their complicit behavior aids and strengthen the horrible power structures that exist on this planet…
Because white feminism needs to be called out. Plain and simple.
b/c white feminists have excluded women of color since the dawn of the suffragette movement. amber’s “only my issues matter” brand of feminism is an example of the narrowness of our collective viewpoint. this “equality for women like me” idea perpetuates the inequality we claim to be striving for and validates the exclusion of other races and the “wrong” kinds of victims.
why did you have to go and make this passive agressive comment which just outs you as someone who is problematic about race?
we all know that white feminism has done s***t for women who are not white, pass as white or pass their narrow definition of “acceptable”-which is mostly subconscious, but very much there. that’s why, and Amber comes across as pure white feminist with her hipocrisy on whoshould and who shouldn’t be criticized.
Precisely. Don’t @ me, but let me use aave to do things privately while I go around dismissing other WOC feelings. Amber is really trying my patience wither her bs.
I agree with Tania. Amber isn’t responsible for Cross but she can’t want to keep this quiet when she (rightly) calls out other crappy people publicly.
I get where you’re coming from, but not all feminists who are white are “white feminists”, if you get my drift. We’re not all clueless arseholes or hypocritical Hollywood actresses. Although, in the era of Trump, I think a sizeable chunk of white people should be fired into the sun.
That may be true but it’s more important for us to acknowledge the narrow definition of feminism of white women and to be more inclusive than to make sure people know that not all white women… it’s a bit like “not all men are bad” we often get in reply to recounting stories of sexism with men.
Yep. Not all white women is the exact same thing as saying not all men or all lives matter. It is COMPLETELY missing the point.
I truly don’t know how these dudes could make this press tour worse. What new low is there to go?
Yeah, this is supposed to be a promotional tour for the new season.
To be a fly on the wall to hear how this is being discussed. Jessica was being gang-gaslit. Yet will she be blamed for the press tour going wrong?
Most likely. If not publci,y, behind closed doors, including by her male co-workers.
This is how he looks? That’s not for a role? Gross.
It’s crazy that people complain about social media backlash. It’s a forum that anyone can access, it’s a game to many people. If she thought her husband wasn’t a creep she wouldn’t be bothered by those comments, it would be obvious to her that they were lies.
This is why a *certain* kind of man needs a woman in his life. To teach him things. Is it right, is it fair? Nah. But its what we got. We learn from each other. Apparently *some* men can only listen to a woman after they’ve had their d**k in her.
Sigh. But we’ll get there. Together. One woke bro at a time.
It reminds me so much of those people who are “the gays are evil and going to hell!” And then their son or daughter is gay and they’re like “meh, maybe not.” No independent thought process, no ability to empathize, have to be taught everything … no thanks.
Can I just say Jason Bateman’s tone in that audio is one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever heard? Bye, dude.
Who is going to not watch the new season of AD because of this? [raises hand]. The show that didn’t fire or discipline Tambor, and thought it would be great to send him and the whole misogynistic freakshow out on a press tour? And yes, I think Jessica will be blamed for the press tour being canceled. After all, they blamed her for being abused.
Me. I love me some AD, I really do. I was sooo happy to hear that they are making a new season, but now it is very much cancelled, thank you very much. Heartbroken. Poor Jessica. Poor all of us who had the unfortunate fate to be born without a peen.
I’m still watching, if only to support Jessica Walter and Alia Shawkat and all of the other badass women that have worked so hard on the show.
“Whatever the criticisms are, I will own up. I don’t even know what they are, as I said, I saw the initial thing but I jumped off at the behest of various people.”
Seriously???? Because he went off twitter, he doesn’t know the extent of the problem???? He needed women to tell him????
“And also I had to put my daughter to bed, so it was time to, you know, focus on what’s really important in the moment.” Apparently his wife wasn’t enough of a shield, now he’s using his young daughter too.
Amber, girl…open your eyes. And stop being such a hypocrite where everyone but your own can get rightfully called out on stuff.
This whole thing makes me want to rage scream. Again. Because after all the various horrible news yesterday, I literally rage screamed in the car on my way home. I recommend it.
Yesterday was a bad day, wasn’t it. I felt on the verge of crying most of the afternoon. Maybe I’ll take your advice and rage scream instead–sounds more cathartic and less draining.
Oh and Amber sucks.
Today has to be better (though at work I’ve already had someone be a b!tch to me for something I didn’t do, fun!). Harvey Weinstein has been charged and perp walked out in handcuffs.
But I definitely recommend a good rage scream.
For me, these people have astonishingly enormous egos. How do they even cross the street and are they capable of respecting the boundaries of other people?
They swagger and blather and imagine they are God’s gift. The entire lot of them are disgusting.
It must be exhausting being married to this guy. Unless Amber enjoys babysitting this guy and cleaning up his messes to make herself look good, I don’t see how she can like this. I know I’d get tired of being the cleaner. Guess my ego isn’t that huge?
Everybody’s apologies are just making it worse, imo, and you know they think they’re great apologies painting them in just the right light. They’re so clueless and opportunities to really learn just fly right over their heads.
I will say I think Tony’s apology was OK – he was clear that he spoke with Jessica privately first, was concise, and didn’t make it all about him, as Bateman and Cross have done. Of all of them I could see him being the most sincere, and truly sorry.
Maybe I’m projecting because I love Tony Hale, but I think he was sincere and I think he probably truly feels awful, not just awful that he got caught.
Wow, he needs to take pr advice from Oliva Munn. I just read the piece on how she answered Andy Cohen’s questions about Aaron Rodgers family and she was extremely diplomatic! This guy does not get it, and of course he had to bring up how Jessica yelled at someone. That wasn’t the issue! The issue is how all those men did not have enough common decency to let Jessica have her own feelings and let her talk!! Honestly, though, I feel like a lot of people don’t have enough empathy!! It’s always about them!
I still can’t believe Cross had the nerve to say Jessica yelled on set too. That a-hole. He must really think he’s never wrong. But the era of people excusing that is OVER.
I can’t stand this douche and Amber is the one being gaslighted into thinking her husband is fixable. He f*cking brought up Walter too yelling at somebody while kinda sorta apologizing. Are you kidding me?!? He is a ridiculous bro who uses his brand of comedy and his wife to shield his bs.
Will not be watching season five. Which kills me bc hubs and I were such huge fans of the show when it aired. But…nope. I can’t look at people onscreen knowing how big of dicks they are in real life. And yes, it’s getting to the point where I almost can’t watch anything. Ugh.
This. The list of watchable stuff gets shorter and shorter. Which sucks, because with all the horror going on in politics, we need all the quality entertainment distraction we can get, and now that is becoming poisoned too.
I still can’t believe the audacity of Bateman to talk over and minimize Jessica Walter, a veteran TV/movie actress almost longer than he’s been alive. As if what she’s saying about her pain and humiliation is of no importance.
And really, Cross shouldn’t have to be led around like that. If he can’t by now at his age think for himself why his actions (past and present) are so wrong, then he’s probably hopeless. And what a way to try and blame the victim and bring up some incident to try to again minimize the current situation. All are cancelled for me.
If you have never seen the classic movie “Gaslight”, please watch it from start to finish if you can. It’s the source of the term “gaslighting”.
The cast interview audio is a prime example of it, too. Those guys (led by Jason) diminish Jessica’s observations and feelings. The intent is clearly to make her think it really isn’t a big deal, even with emotion in her voice as they pile it on.
I have concerns that Jessica is going to be the scapegoat for this PR disaster. After hearing the audio clip, I would not want to work with that bunch (other than the young actress) when they so clearly disrespect her.
Please stop saying things like, “ I’m through with white women:feminists”. I get it. As a whole, there’s been a lot of bullshit and not all encompassing feminism for all races, BUT, I always feel like when racial politics get thrown in the mix of literally almost any debate, I personally, can see that it’s society who is trying to separate us. I’m about to share something, and it’s not like, oh good on me for not being a total shitbag, it’s literally just like why aren’t you just a person (and I hope this will help illustrate my thoughts). I was standing outside at some random party on the night of the mcgregor/mayweather fight. People were being ignorant about race relations, and since I live in the St. Louis area, it’s especially bad. I said something along the lines of, “ why are you trying to make this fight a race thing”, and got back with, “ if you were jumped by…” to which I once again said, “what’s the difference in race, don’t you think that America as a whole is TRYING to pit us against each other so we’re not united to take over the powers that be that really matter? “ To which my male white friend said, “ I see your point” I mean cmon. I feel like at least on this site we’re trying our best to understand each other, and I acknowledge my privilege, but I don’t need to hear anyone say they’re done w white women. A white celebrity is not all women, and it is hurtful and offensive to hear someone say they’re done w you bc of your ethnicity. I think we can all agree on that.