Jason Bateman & Justine Bateman Aren’t Planning on Seeing Each Other for Christmas
There is no manual for sibling relationships — especially when you’re all adults. Some siblings will bicker and fight like they’ve always done, others will be thick as thieves well into adulthood, whether they live in the same city or not. Still, others have a more reserved approach to maintaining ties with their siblings — which seems to be exactly how the Batemans like it. Jason Bateman recently revealed that he won’t be seeing his older sister Justine Bateman and her kids for Christmas due to their non “typical” relationship.
In a new interview with Esquire, the Zootopia 2 star candidly admitted, “My sister and I don’t see each other a ton.”
He continued, “There isn’t the typical ‘We see each other every Thanksgiving or every Christmas and our kids want to be together.’ There isn’t that. In a great way. Our conversations are the rich conversations you would have with an adult friend, not the kind of petulant back-and-forth you might have with your adult sibling.”
Still, despite not seeing each other for the holidays (or their kids having a relationship with each other?), Jason and Justine do talk. “We hang out, and we’re nice to each other because we respect one another as individuals regardless of the blood thing,” he said. “I’m seeing her for lunch next week.”
It may sound odd, but then again, the Batemans’ parents weren’t typical parents either. Elsewhere in the interview, the Black Rabbit star explained a little about his childhood.
“My mom was a flight attendant for Pan Am, so she was flying internationally half the month my whole childhood,” he shared. “Sometimes, Christmas would be on December 15 or the 2nd of January or whatever, depending on whether she was in town. We never really had Sunday dinners. My dad was a freelance writer, director, producer, so he would either be on location or maybe downstairs in the basement writing a script.”
Justine is known for her breakout role as Mallory Keaton on Family Ties, while Jason first starred as James Cooper Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie. They don’t speak on their relationship often, but they have made comments in the past defending their relationship.
In September, Justine wrote on X, “Anyone bringing up my brother to me for any other reason than to say you like his new upcoming show, or any of his past work, will be muted at best, and blocked at worst. I’m not interested in your fantasy about some imagined conflict between the two of us over your political ideologies.”
“Really, it’s sick. So, keep it up,” she continued. “It makes it easy for me if identify yourselves, so I can make an X setting adjustment to never have to hear from you, ever again.”
Back in Nov. 2024, Justine responded to a tweet asking if her brother was “sensible like you or is he one of those Hollywood libs?” She wrote back, “I love my brother. I don’t care how he votes. I don’t care how anyone votes. I judge people on their character.”
It’s nice to see that even if they aren’t best friends, and don’t agree one everything, they can still be respectful of each other and maintain a relationship that works on their terms. It’s inspiring for siblings everywhere!
Find out how our favorite celebs spend Christmas, Hanukkah, and more wintertime holidays with their families.