Arnett Shuts Down Bateman’s Amy Poehler Question

Will Arnett drew a hard line on Monday’s episode of SmartLess when co-host Jason Bateman steered a bathroom conversation toward Arnett’s ex-wife, Amy Poehler.

The exchange went down with Bateman and Sean Hayes celebrating their shared comfort with “power burps” and flatulence between friends. Bateman noted that Arnett keeps his bodily functions strictly private, saying, “Willie doesn’t, he doesn’t,” before pivoting to the question that set Arnett off.

“Did you ever poo in front of, um, Amy?” Bateman inquired (around the 4-minute mark) on the June 22 episode. With swiftness, Arnett fired back. “Are you looking for clicks? Are you trying to get something that we can click around?”

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Bateman pressed on, reminding Arnett that he and Poehler had been married and raised two kids together. “I always forget people are listening to this,” Bateman said. “Wait, but hang on. You were married to her, had two kids. You guys never went to the bathroom in front of each other?”

Arnettt refused to budge. “I’m sorry. The question is, did I poo in front of Amy? And you’re saying that I don’t have manners? What are you talking about? It’s not a good question. I refuse to answer it. I refuse to answer that. It’s none of your f**kingbusiness,” he said.

Arnett also positioned himself as the more polished member of the trio. “I don’t talk about potty stuff,” he continued. “I don’t pick my teeth.” He then issued a warning that Poehler “is going to be outraged” by the question.

Hayes, who could be heard laughing throughout, eventually turned the question back on Bateman, asking whether he relieves himself in front of his wife, Amanda Anka. Bateman’s answer was characteristically candid. “I mean, we don’t use the same potty,” he explained, before offering his personal assessment of Anka’s bathroom habits. “She doesn’t poo. Never has. I don’t know how, it’s amazing.”

Later in the episode, Bateman mentioned he hadn’t seen Anka in nearly three weeks. Arnett confirmed he’d been picking up the slack with a hilariously suggestive tease. “We saw her this weekend. I talked to her yesterday, and I saw her Saturday night. I’ve been spending a lot of time with her.” He also made clear where his loyalties lie. “I do love your wife, Amanda, and we all do. She’s the f***ing greatest.”

Arnett and Poehler were married from 2003 to 2016 and share sons Archie, 17, and Abel, 15. Prior to their divorce, they announced their separation in 2012. In her 2014 memoir, Yes Please, Poehler wrote that she didn’t want to devote a lot of book space to their divorce, calling it “too sad and too personal.”

“I am proud of how my ex-husband, Will, and I have been taking care of our children; I am beyond grateful he is their father; and I don’t think a [nearly] ten-year marriage constitutes failure,” she wrote. “That being said, getting a divorce really sucks.”

This is not Bateman’s first time drawing heat for a personal question on SmartLess in recent months. Earlier this year, the actor faced criticism for pressing Charli XCX on her choice to remain child-free, and then practically insinuating that she’ll want to have kids if she finds the right partner (she’s married to The 1975’s George Daniel).