Jason Bateman Reacts to Backlash Over His Comments to Charli XCX About Having Kids

Jason Bateman is ready to record his thoughts.

The Arrested Development star shared his reaction to the backlash he received after telling Charli XCX, who appeared on his SmartLess podcast earlier this month, that her stance on not wanting kids “could change” because she “might find somebody” who alters her opinion.

“Well, I’m married,” the Grammy winner told Jason on the Feb. 2 episode, referring to her July wedding with The 1975’s drummer George Daniel. She had also explained that naming a child sounds “so fun,” noting, “The fact that that feels like the coolest part about it? Maybe I’m not ready.”

After the episode’s release, fans online shared their disapproval of Jason’s questions, with one user calling the interview “one of the worst pieces of media of all time.” Meanwhile, others pointed out the Emmy winner’s lack of knowledge about Charli, who has detailed her disinterest in having kids throughout her nearly two-decade music career.

Though the Zootopia 2 actor—dad to daughters Francesca, 19, and Maple, 14, with wife Amanda Anka—had kept mum about the interview since its debut, he recently shared his thoughts on the uproar.

“We were having a great conversation about her life growing up as an only child,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published Feb. 18. “It seemed like a very natural follow-up to that. That’s all it was.”