Jason Bateman Had Meltdown Recording Podcast With Matthew McConaughey

Jason Bateman once had a “meltdown” while trying to record an episode of the “SmartLess” podcast.
His computer wouldn’t work when he was trying to record with Matthew McConaughey.
On the latest episode of the podcast, he said: “It’s not one of my prouder moments.”

The actor Jason Bateman once had a “full meltdown” in front of Matthew McConaughey while experiencing technical difficulties during a recording of his “SmartLess” podcast.

At least that’s how his cohost Will Arnett described it on Monday’s episode of the podcast, in which Bateman, Arnett, and their cohost Sean Hayes finally interviewed McConaughey after a botched attempt that Arnett said happened at least two years ago.

The premise of “SmartLess” revolves around the three cohosts taking turns to pick a mystery guest each week, and on Monday, McConaughey joined the gang to talk about his new book.

Before the interview got underway, however, the stars recalled the first time they tried to record a podcast with the Oscar winner, which had to be scrapped because of Bateman’s computer issues.

Arnett then played an audio recording of Bateman’s reaction to the technical difficulties, as Bateman sheepishly said: “Oh no, please don’t have playback.”

In the audio, someone could be heard explaining that Bateman was having problems with his computer before the actor rejoined the call.

“I don’t see it here in the sound thing so let’s just cancel. Let’s reschedule this thing. I’m in a total fucking tailspin,” Bateman could be heard saying.

After hearing the cohost throw in the towel, McConaughey started laughing uncontrollably, seemingly irritating Bateman. It should be noted, per the premise of the show, that Bateman didn’t know that McConaughey was the episode’s scheduled guest.

“Who the fuck is that? Great, that’s helpful,” Bateman said in the clip.

McConaughey could then be heard saying, “Let me tell you what I’ve heard here over the last 30 minutes,” before delivering his own version of Bateman’s meltdown.

“We’ve gotta reboot here. His iPad got cloned, and then it got wiped right before the dog peed on it, so I gotta reboot one more time,” McConaughey said, mimicking the cohost. 

Listening back to the clip, Bateman said on Monday’s podcast: “It’s not one of my prouder moments.”

“The worst part is me hearing somebody laughing, thinking it’s Will or Sean, and going, ‘Who did that? That’s not helpful,'” Bateman recalled. “And then I slammed my laptop shut, took my ball, and went home like a bitch.”

“I was so angry,” the actor continued. “I think maybe you had told me it was a big guest, so don’t fuck around kind of thing. I just knew I was blowing it.”

Speaking directly to McConaughey, Bateman added: “Listen, Matthew, the fact that you’ve come back after that absolute wipeout, I can’t thank you enough.”