Jeffrey Tambor, the Emmy-winning star of the Amazon web series Transparent, has said he does not see how he could return to the show next season, after a second woman levelled allegations of sexual harassment against him.



Actress Trace Lysette accused Tambor last week of making sexually charged remarks to her during as they worked together on the groundbreaking comedy series, as well as acting inappropriately during one alleged incident that “got physical”.

Lysette has appeared as a guest star in multiple episodes of the show’s four seasons, in which Tambor, 73, plays Maura Pfefferman: a retired professor undergoing gender transition. Amazon was already investigating allegations of harassment levelled against Tambor by his former assistant on the show, trans actress Van Barnes. The company said it would widen the probe to include Lysette’s allegations.

On Thursday, Tambor vehemently denied what he said was a “baseless allegation”, saying, “I am deeply sorry if any action of mine was ever misinterpreted by anyone as being sexually aggressive or if I ever offended or hurt anyone. But the fact is, for all my flaws, I am not a predator.”

On Sunday, he issued a second statement, saying: “I’ve already made clear my deep regret if any action of mine was ever misinterpreted by anyone as being aggressive, but the idea that I would deliberately harass anyone is simply and utterly untrue.

“Given the politicized atmosphere that seems to have afflicted our set, I don’t see how I can return to Transparent.”

Tambor did not explicitly say he would not return for a fifth season, but pressure has been mounting on Amazon to remove the actor from its cast. In her public statement detailing the allegations against Tambor on 17 November, Lysette urged Amazon to “remove the problem and let the show go on”. Transparent writer and producer Our Lady J posted support of Lysette on Instagram, writing: “Thank you for your proposed solution ... You are right — we cannot let trans content be taken down by a single cis man.”

Amazon declined to comment. A representative for Lysette did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

While receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Tambor called his Transparent role “an opportunity of a lifetime, and the responsibility of a lifetime”.

The issue of sexual harassment is particularly sensitive at Amazon given that Amazon Studios president Roy Price resigned last month, following allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour from multiple women.

Tambor is one of the latest figures in entertainment or politics to be accused in recent weeks of sexual harassment or misconduct. The wave of allegations, sometimes decades old, has reinvigorated a national dialogue over the issue of sex and the dynamics of power in the workplace.

In a statement posted to Twitter, Lysette said that Tambor had made “many sexual advances and remarks at me, but one time it got physical.”



She described an incident that allegedly occurred during the filming of season two, in which she and Tambor were dressed in pajamas in a corner of the set.

“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,” Lysette’s statement read. “I felt his penis against my hip through his thin pajamas and I pushed him off me.”

Tambor specifically denied the allegations in a statement on Thursday, writing: “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.”