Jeffrey Tambor Quits Transparent Following Two Sexual Harassment Allegations
The actor denies any wrongdoing, saying, "I have never been a predator — ever."
Jeffrey Tambor has announced his departure from Transparent, the Amazon series he's starred in since 2014, following two allegations of sexual harassment from co-star Trace Lysette and a former assistant. Tambor has vehemently denied all allegations of improper conduct.
Lysette described an uncomfortable encounter while on set filming an episode in 2015.
"He came in close, put his bare feet on top of mine so I could not move, leaned his body against me, and began quick, discreet thrusts back and forth against my body. I felt his penis on my hip through his thin pajamas," Lysette told The Hollywood Reporter.
His former assistant Van Barnes (who, like Lysette, is a transgender woman) told Deadline that he had groped and propositioned her repeatedly.
“I am aware that a former disgruntled assistant of mine has made a private post implying that I had acted in an improper manner toward her,” Tambor told the publication in response. “I adamantly and vehemently reject and deny any and all implication and allegation that I have ever engaged in any improper behavior toward this person or any other person I have ever worked with. I am appalled and distressed by this baseless allegation.”
“I find myself accused of behavior that any civilized person would condemn unreservedly,” he later said in a statement provided to Us Weekly. “I know I haven’t always been the easiest person to work with. I can be volatile and ill-tempered, and too often I express my opinions harshly and without tact. But I have never been a predator – ever.”
The future of Transparent hasn't been announced publicly, but Variety opined, "Now that the show has a more evenly-distributed display of talent, it can withstand the loss of such a pivotal character ... the departure of Maura Pfefferman can make sense as an organic extension of where the narrative was already headed."
