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What we can learn on how not to dismiss coworkers from 'Arrested Development' interview

Monica Torres
May 24, 2018
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When your coworker rallies up the courage to share a story about being verbally abused by another coworker, your job is to listen and be respectful. You want them to know that you support them, and find their experience to be valid, even if their recollection of events does not match your own.

On Wednesday, a New York Times interview with the cast of “Arrested Development” became a textbook case study on how not to listen to your coworkers’ stories of workplace harassment. It began when Times reporter Sopan Deb brought up actor Jeffrey Tambor’s on-set behavior toward co-star Jessica Walter.

In an earlier interview to the Hollywood Reporter, Tambor had admitted to a “blowup” with Walter. When your coworker talks about being harassed, don’t laugh it off and dismiss it, as Walter’s male coworkers did when this incident was brought up. It will backfire.

“I’ve never had anybody yell at me like that on a set”

In the Times interview, Deb said to Tambor, “You even said at one point you lashed out at — ” and actress Jessica Walter identified herself as the one being lashed out at. This prompted laughter from the room. Co-star Jason Bateman, who plays Walter’s son, said that everyone yells at everybody on set. Walter pushed back against this blanket statement by noting that no one else had treated her the way Tambor had.

Bateman responded by noting that the cast was a family and families fought: “This is a family and families, you know, have love, laughter arguments — again, not to belittle it, but a lot of stuff happens in 15 years,” he said. “I can say that no matter what anybody in this room has ever done — and we’ve all done a lot, with each other, for each other, against each other — I wouldn’t trade it for the world and I have zero complaints.”

David Cross, another male costar, also downplayed Tambor’s behavior by saying that Tambor had “learned from the experience.”

Through audible tears, Walter acknowledged that Tambor had apologized: “Verbally, yes, he harassed me, but he did apologize. I have to let it go.” But she also noted that this was harassment that she had never experienced from anyone else in her decades of work: “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,” she said.

One notable exception in the rush to defend and excuse Tambor’s outburst as normal was co-star Alia Shawkat, the only other woman in the room. After Bateman noted that acting was “a breeding ground for atypical behavior,” Shawkat jumped in to say: “But that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable. And the point is that things are changing, and people need to respect each other differently.”

After the interview was published, people on social media voiced support for Walter, criticizing how her male coworkers dismissed and belittled her story to defend Tambor.

For some people, Walter’s need to let go of anger resonated with their own experiences at work:

Following the backlash, Bateman realized he had made a huge mistake and apologized for “mansplaining” and said he was “deeply sorry to have done that to Jessica.”

Tony Hale, one of the other male coworkers in the Times interview, also publicly apologized to Walter on Thursday.

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