T.J. Miller claims he's not a bully, just a "benevolent benign maniac"
T.J. Miller—the comedian and Silicon Valley actor whose fall from grace began with accusations of sexual assault that were quickly joined by documentation of unprofessional on-set behavior, transphobia, harassment, and, well, actual criminal charges—would like you all to know that, actually, this is all the media’s fault. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
“There’s no court of law … any time you get into the he-said-she-said stuff, you get into a difficult grey area because there’s no proof either way, but people love to bully and mob mentality is very easy to get into,” he says in a recent interview on SiriusXM’s Jim Norton & Sam Roberts show, maintaining his innocence on all fronts by calling the allegations “completely untrue.” (Roberts and Norton, it should be noted, couldn’t agree more.)
He also directly addressed the comments of Silicon Valley actress Alice Wetterlund, who dubbed Miller “a bully and petulant brat” last month. “She may have had that experience, but it’s again people trying to enter the headlines and get into the media cycle,” he said. “It was not my experience that anyone was bullying her or being mean to her.” Later, after calling her “mean” for “calling me names,” added that, in fact, she “was difficult to work with her because she kept interrupting Zach Woods.”
While nobody disagrees that online culture routinely deems itself judge, jury, and executioner, Miller’s case feels different, due not only to the wealth of credible accusations that have emerged, but also his complete refusal to crawl beyond his own narrow perspective to engage with what’s being said. Instead, he asserts that, no, he’s not a bully, he’s actually a “benevolent benign maniac,” whatever the hell that means.
Oh, and as for that bomb threat? Simply a “misunderstanding that I have with the federal government.”
Watch the majority of the interview below: