Robert Hanashiro / USA TODAY NETWORK/a24
Actor Jason Bateman is receiving some blowback for some comments he made about having children to pop star Charli XCX when she appeared on his Smartless podcast. Charli XCX was on Smartless to promote her new A24 film The Moment.
While Charli XCX — real name Charlotte Emma Aitchison — was appearing on the Smartless podcast that Jason Bateman hosts alongside friends and fellow actors Will Arnett and Sean Hayes, the topic of having children came up.
Jason Bateman is facing backlash on social media for comments he made to pop star Charli XCX about her desire, or lack thereof, to have children
Bateman asked Charli if she wanted to have an only child, so she could give her kid the same experience that she had.
“Would you love to have more than one kid or would you like to have a kid that has the same experience as you, the only child, and then you get to nurture and protect?” Bateman asked.
When the pop star said that she did not want to have kids, Bateman suggested that she perhaps just hasn’t found the right partner yet, prompting Charli to awkwardly reiterate that she’s married.
“I love the fantasy of having a child like naming it — it sounds so fun — but I’m like, that is exactly assigned to me as to why I should not have one, the fact that [naming it] feels like the coolest part about it,” she said.
“I mean I guess I’m backing into giving myself a half-assed compliment here, but my wife did not want to have kids, so the story goes. She said once we started going out she thought, ‘OK, I think I can have a kid with this guy.’ So you might find somebody,” Bateman suggested
“Well, I am married,” Charli replied.
i had to go listen to see for myself and it’s worse than i thought it would be …. disgusting . https://t.co/3xi5HJ9uPG pic.twitter.com/5zrnjLUHgM
— #1 xcx defender (@lipglossgrinss) February 3, 2026
incredible rough listening experience at one point jason bateman asks her how many kids she wants to have (bad enough) and then she’s like "i don’t think i want kids" and he’s like "well maybe you just need to find the right guy" and she’s like "i’m married" and then silence pic.twitter.com/jnzTBfM7pu
— merle (@rottenbrunette) February 2, 2026
The Moment, directed by Aidan Zamiri, stars Charli XCX as a fictionalized cersion of herself gearing up to begin her first headlining tour. Alongside XCX, The Moment also stars Rosanna Arquette, Kate Berlant, Jamie Demetriou, Hailey Benton Gates, Isaac Powell, Kylie Jenner, Rachel Sennott, and Alexander Skarsgård.