LAST MONTH, THE cast of Arrested Development were interviewed by The New York Times, and in discussing matters regarding appropriate on-set conduct, a light was shone on the gender disparity that exists between male and female perception of the subject.
With their former co-star, Jeffrey Tambor, having faced claims of sexual harassment on the set of Transparent, the cast turned their attention to Jeffrey’s conduct on the set of Arrested Development.
Tentatively offering her own experience of working alongside Jeffrey, a visibly upset Jessica Walter admitted she had never been treated as poorly by anyone as she had been by Jeffrey.
He never crossed the line on our show with any sexual whatever. Verbally, yes he harassed me, but he did apologise. [In] almost 60 years of working, I’ve never had anybody yell at me like that on a set and it’s hard to deal with, but I’m over it now.”
And with that, the male cast members present sought to minimise Jeffrey’s conduct- a reaction which ignited considerable backlash among members of the public in the aftermath of the interview.
Three weeks on from the controversy, Alia Shawkat, who plays Maeby in the show, admitted during an exchange with Broadly, that the intensity of the situation was overwhelming.
“I, all of a sudden, started to feel hot inside,” she said of her co-stars’ defence of Jeffrey.
They started going on about how they support Jeffrey, and they love him, and he’s a great actor—all these things that I agree with; I care about Jeffrey and I think he’s a great actor. But what continued to go on was, in my opinion, too much.
Alia explained that when Jessica became visibly upset, she realised that the situation had escalated far beyond their intentions.
Once that happened, I realized we were having a public and private conversation at the same time, which is very unnatural. All of a sudden, we’re having this intense moment as a group of people who’ve known each other for 15 years—and it’s being recorded.
Alia’s assessment of her male co-stars’ conduct was scathing, while explaining that her main priority was Jessica’s welfare.
They were almost trying to cover themselves up while simultaneously talking, instead of actually listening to each other—which is the biggest theme that I learned from this whole experience, this 20-minute interview that made so much noise. The minute Jessica started crying, my instinct was just to go up to her and hug her and be like, ‘This interview’s over.’ Once Jessica was upset, that was my main concern. I didn’t even want to necessarily talk about the issues any more. I just wanted to make sure she was OK.
Jason Bateman, who led the defence of Jeremy, issued a statement in the days that followed, apologising for his lack of diplomacy and empathy while engaging with Jessica.
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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