Jason Bateman apologises for excusing co-star Jeffrey Tambor's yelling on set

Jason Bateman has apologised for defending Jeffrey Tambor in an interview, after his Arrested Development co-star admitted to a “blowup” on the set of the Netflix show.

Bateman has said he is “incredibly embarrassed and deeply sorry” after an interview with the New York Times, during which the cast of the comedy were asked about Tambor’s behaviour on set. Tambor had admitted to yelling at Jessica Walter, who plays Lucille Bluth on the show.

“Not to belittle it or excuse it or anything – but in the entertainment industry it is incredibly common to have people who are, in quotes, ‘difficult’,” Bateman said in the interview.

Walter ended the interview in tears, and responded to Bateman by saying: “Jason says this happens all the time. In, like, almost 60 years of working, I’ve never had anybody yell at me like that on a set.”

Bateman responded on Twitter after the interview was heavily criticised, saying he was not condoning Tambor’s behaviour and that he was “horrified” the interview had been interpreted that way.

“Based on listening to the NYT interview and hearing people’s thoughts online, I realise that I was wrong here,” wrote Bateman.

“I sound like I’m condoning yelling at work. I do not,” he added. “It sounds like I’m excusing Jeffery. I do not. It sounds like I’m insensitive to Jessica. I am not.”

“There’s never any excuse for abuse, in any form, from any gender. And, the victim’s voice needs to be heard and respected,” he added.

The cast were discussing the response to allegations that Tambor sexually harassed cast members on the Amazon series, Transparent. Tambor was fired from Transparent while the allegations were investigated, but Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz decided to keep him on the show. Tambor denies the allegations and calls them “baseless”.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Hurwitz said: “Am I going to cut Jeffrey out of the show, based on allegations that he disputes, that Amazon hasn’t shared, and that we have never experienced any complaints about? No, of course I am not going to. I’m going to support Jeffrey.”

Arrested Development returns to Netflix for its fifth season next week.