'Arrested Development' Star Jessica Walter Says Jeffrey Tambor Verbally Harassed Her

Walter: "I’ve never had anybody yell at me like that on a set."

Arrested Development Cast
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Jeffrey Tambor, Jason Bateman, Tony Hale, David Cross (Front Row L-R) Will Arnett, Alia Shawkat and Jessica Walter take part in SiriusXM's Town Hall with the cast of Arrested Development hosted by SiriusXM's Jessica Shaw at SiriusXM Studio on May 21, 2018 in New York City.

Arrested Development Cast

Months after he was fired from Amazon’s original series Transparent, Jeffrey Tambor, who was accused of sexual harassment, attempted to defend his name in an exclusive interview with The Hollywood Reporter. The 73-year-old actor continued to deny allegations of sexual misconduct—claims that ultimately led to his termination from Transparent; however, Tambor did admit to having “the occasional outburst” while on set, and would sometimes take out his frustrations on various members of the cast and crew.

During the THR interview, he spoke about a “blow up” between him and his Arrested Development co-star Jessica Walter, an incident which he said he later “profusely apologized” for. Walter declined to provide THR with a comment at the time; however, the actress is now opening up about the pain she endured while working with Tambor over the years.

During a recent interview with the New York Times, Walter and her Arrested Development co-stars—Tambor, Tony Hale, Jason Bateman, Alia Shawkat, Will Arnett, and David Cross—spoke about the misconduct allegations brought against Tambor. The interview was published about a week before the premiere of Arrested Development’s fifth season, in which Tambor will reprise his role as George Bluth Sr., the husband of the show’s matriarch Lucille (Walter).

After the conversation turned toward Tambor’s alleged abuse, Walter said the actor had consistently verbally harassed while on set and that she had “to let go of being angry at him.”

“He never crossed the line on our show, with any, you know, sexual whatever,” the actress reportedly said through tears. “Verbally, yes, he harassed me, but he did apologize. I have to let it go. [Turns to Tambor.] And I have to give you a chance to, you know, for us to be friends again.”

Several of the other Arrested Development co-stars made an effort to defend Tambor’s aggressive behavior, most notably Jason Bateman. Prior to Walter’s emotional statement, Bateman said that “in the entertainment industry it is incredibly common to have people who are, in quotes, ‘difficult.’” Walter insisted Tambor’s behavior was anything but “common.”

“But it’s hard because honestly—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. And it’s hard to deal with, but I’m over it now,” Walter said. “I just let it go right here, for The New York Times.”

You can read the full interview now at the Times’ website. Arrested Development season five premieres May 29 on Netflix.

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