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 Actress Trace Lysette accused Tambor last week
of making sexually charged remarks to her during their work
together on the groundbreaking comedy series about a transgender
character, 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 a retired
professor in transition who tells his family about his longtime
identification as a woman.
In a statement forwarded on Sunday by his publicist, Tambor said
he would never have intentionally harassed anyone and regretted
if any of his actions were misinterpreted as such.
"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," he wrote. "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 in the statement he would not
return for a fifth season.
In August while receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame,
Tambor, who has a long list of television and movie credits
including "Arrested Development" and "The Larry Sanders Show,"
called his "Transparent" role "an opportunity of a lifetime, and
the responsibility of a lifetime."
Amazon declined comment. A representative for Lysette did not
immediately respond to a request for comment.
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 behavior from multiple women.
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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.
Amazon had already been investigating allegations of harassment
leveled against Tambor by his former assistant on the show, Van
Barnes. It said it would widen the probe to include Lysette's
allegations.
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 Season 2 of
“Transparent,” in which she and Tambor were dressed in thin 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," the 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 last week
to Variety, writing that he has “never been a predator -- ever.”
(Additional reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington and Jill Sergeant
in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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