FOLLOWING CONSIDERABLE BACKLASH, Jason Bateman has today issued an apology for his reaction to Jessica Walter’s upset over Jeffrey Tambor’s on-set conduct.

During an interview with The New York Times, the Arrested Development cast discussed their former co-star’s behaviour – a conversation which led to a tearful outburst from Jessica Walters, who plays Lucille on the highly-acclaimed series.

While Jessica condemned Jeffrey’s conduct, saying he verbally harassed her, Jason Bateman appeared to defend his former co-star, who was accused of sexual misconduct on the set of Transparent, at every available opportunity.

It’s a very amorphous process, this sort of bullshit that we do, you know, making up this fake life. It’s a weird thing, and it’s a breeding ground for atypical behaviour and certain people have certain processes.

Understandably, backlash was swift, with Twitter deriding Jason and his male co-stars for belittling Jessica’s response to harassment on-set.

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And this afternoon, 49-year-old Jason posted a series of tweets in response to the backlash, agreeing that he was in the wrong.

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

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 horrified that I wasn’t more aware of how this incident affected her.

Acknowledging that he handled the situation with very little diplomacy or tact, the actor attempted to explain his behaviour before insisting he intended to learn from the episode.

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.

... 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

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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.

Jason’s apology has been met with a mixed response from Twitter users, with some praising the actor for acknowledging his behaviour and others suggesting he is minimising his role in the matter.

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