HBO Responds to On-Set Bullying Accusations on ‘Silicon Valley’

After Silicon Valley actress Alice Wetterlund bashed star T.J. Miller and other co-stars on the HBO series for bullying, the network said that it was “disappointed to learn of her concerns.”

“While this is the first time we have heard Alice Wetterlund comment on her experiences on Silicon Valley, we are disappointed to learn of her concerns. HBO and the producers have always taken very seriously our responsibility to create a welcoming and congenial environment for everyone who works on the show,” HBO said in a statement, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Wetterlund, who played engineer Carla Walton for two seasons, previously tweeted that her time on Silicon Valley was “kind of a nightmare.”

“TJ Miller was a bully and petulant brat and pretty much everyone who had any power on that (almost all male) set, including the male cast members, enabled him and were complicit in his unprofessionalism,” she wrote, adding, “They can f— off forever.”

“I’m pretty open about this, and I don’t know if other women on the show had a different experience than me, but it was kind of a nightmare,” she said.

Speaking specifically about Miller, who left the show after four seasons of playing Erlich Bachman, Wetterlund wrote sarcastically, “Yes! It is definitely time to rehabilitate TJ Miller’s career! We can’t afford to lose talent at a time like this, we need more — not less — comedic hijinks such as *checks notes* calling in a fake bomb threat.”

In April, Miller was arrested for allegedly calling in a fake bomb threat on an Amtrak train.

When asked why she chose to stay on the show “if it was so awful,” she said “One, I needed the job, two it was my first recurring role and I had no idea it wasn’t always toxic and weird. Now I know!”

She did not offer specifics about the bullying she experienced while she played the role, did say why she chose not to go into detail. “I don’t know how to talk about this yet in a way that doesn’t muddy the waters of #MeToo but DOES help people understand and do better,” she said.

Miller made headlines last year when he took shots as executive producer Alec Berg and co-star Thomas Middleditch after leaving Silicon Valley. Later, in December, he was accused of sexual assault by a former George Washington University classmate in 2001, which saw terminations of many more of his jobs.

Miller and his wife denied the sexual assault allegations.