Tamblyn spoke to NPR about how she’s ‘helped him to see.’
Amber Tamblyn’s not making excuses for her husband, David Cross, she’s educating him.
In a new interview with NPR, the 35-year-old actress and author opened up about being a face of the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements while her husband has been accused of sexist and racist behavior.
“Basically, he was rightfully accused of doing something racist to the comedian, Charlyne Yi,” Tamblyn said. “You know I think the jokes that work for white guys and their white guy comedian friends don’t work, always, for women of color.”
Back in October 2017 when the accusations first came to light, Tamblyn tweeted, “I spoke to @charlyne_yi and her feelings/safety are all that matter to me. We’re good. I owe you nothing, Twitter. You’re lucky to have me,” adding, “I spoke to Charlyne. I believe her. I’m about HER feelings/emotional health right now, not Twitter’s.”
In her NPR interview, Tamblyn praised Cross’ willingness to learn when it came to the tough topics.
“Believe me, his eyes are open to that now, if they weren’t before,” she said of the racism. “And this is what it took to have that change. Some men don’t change. The thing I can say about David, that I love so much about him, is that he changes. And part of his introspection and his sensitivity is that he’s aware of that.”
Cross came into the Time’s Up spotlight again this past May during an Arrested Development cast interview he participated in, in which his co-star Jessica Walter accused co-star Jeffrey Tambor of verbal harassment. After the interview, Cross publicly apologized to Walter for his and several of his other male co-stars behavior during the interview.
“I think, same thing goes for the… talking over Jessica Walters incident that happened recently,” Tamblyn told NPR. “I think it was a similar experience where… it’s just a continual sense of getting them to open their eyes and getting them to see either how they’re helping or they’re not helping.”
Tamblyn said that after the controversial interview, she spoke with Cross about his behavior.
“I helped him to see,” she explained. “That’s the best thing that you could do. And you know that was really difficult for our family. We got death threats… And women were coming after me and telling me, ‘Oh you can’t be the head of a movement and not speak to this.’”
Tamblyn went on to say she felt she’d “earned the right to privacy,” but added, “If you care about my voice and what I have to say at all… and you think you know me, then you better assume that I’m having really difficult conversations with my husband about it. Just like all women are.”
For more from Tamblyn, watch the clip below:
RELATED CONTENT:
