After several sexual harassment allegations against Transparent star Jeffrey Tambor surfaced, it was widely reported – including here – that he was departing the show. This was based on a statement from Tambor in which decried the current “toxic atmosphere” and the “politicisation” on-set, leading him to say it was “very hard for me to see how I can possibly return”.
That seems like a pretty clear indication that he was stepping away from Transparent. Well, that’s apparently not so. In a statement to the New York Times, Tambor’s agent Allan Mayer said that a final decision hasn’t actually been made by either the actor or Amazon Studios.
What he said was that given the toxic atmosphere and the politicisation on the set, it’s very hard for him to see how he can possibly return. But no final decision for next year has been made, either by Jeffrey or by Amazon.
Amazon is currently investigating misconduct allegations against Tambor. The results of that investigation are not clear, and the company hasn’t made any explicit statement on whether they are parting ways with the actor.
Tambor was accused of sexual harassment by his former personal assistant, a trans woman named Van Barnes, in a private Facebook post which was later circulated and reported on by the media. After that, guest star Trace Lysette said that Tambor had behaved inappropriately around her.
The NYT article alleges that the uncertainty around Tambor’s position on the show is unsurprisingly causing a great deal of drama on how they will proceed.
There’s been a great deal of discomfort from some of the show’s fans that a show that has been otherwise progressive in hiring trans actors is still ultimately led by a cisgender man, and the sexual misconduct allegations obviously amplify that inherent problem. Fans have been calling for the focus of the show to shift to the numerous interesting transgender characters who have been introduced since the show’s launch. The uncertainty around Tambor is making that much harder.
Tambor has won two Emmys and a Golden Globe for his work on the show.
