Arrested Development star Jessica Walter details verbal harassment from Jeffrey Tambor

The premiere of Arrested Development season 5 is coming to Netflix next week, but the show itself is becoming overshadowed by more comments regarding the on-set behavior of Jeffrey Tambor.

Over the past couple of weeks, there have been details pertaining to an on-set incident involving Tambor and his co-star Jessica Walter, who plays Lucille on the show. Walter declined comment for some time, but started to open up, through tears, in a New York Times interview in which many of her male co-stars seemed to try to either diminish his behavior or claim it to be a natural part of the industry:

“He never crossed the line on our show, with any, you know, sexual whatever. Verbally, yes, he harassed me, but he did apologize … In like almost 60 years of working, I’ve never had anybody yell at me like that on a set.”

When co-star Jason Bateman suggested that these sort of outbursts are typical within the industry, Walter countered by reminding him that he has never exhibited such behavior towards her in all of their years of working together. Other than Tambor, there have been no public issues related to verbal harassment among any in the cast.

We should also point out that despite the incident, Walter does also say that she would work with Tambor again:

“I don’t want to walk around with anger. I respect him as an actor. We’ve known each other for years and years and years… Of course, I would work with him again in a heartbeat.”

Bateman also stated in the interview that he would not do another season without Tambor involved, and the more we hear in general, the more problematic the situation becomes. Can we separate the Bluth family from the actors portraying them, and will all of this take away from a show once regarded as one of the best comedies of all time? We’ve never particularly been a fan of the George Sr. character and would be totally fine with the show continuing without him, but we’re speaking critically here and not someone in a position to make decisions in regards to the show itself.

Does the controversy surrounding Tambor, and some of Walter’s comments, make you a little less likely to enjoy Arrested Development? Share right now in the comments.