Jeffrey Tambor is officially out at TRANSPARENT and will have no part of the Amazon show’s upcoming fifth season, the streaming network announced Thursday.
The decision comes three months after Amazon began investigating allegations of sexual misconduct against the series star.
“I have great respect and admiration for Van Barnes and Trace Lysette, whose courage in speaking out about their experience on Transparent is an example of the leadership this moment in our culture requires,” Jill Soloway said in a statement. “We are grateful to the many trans people who have supported our vision for Transparent since its inception and remain heartbroken about the pain and mistrust their experience has generated in our community. We are taking definitive action to ensure our workplace respects the safety and dignity of every individual, and are taking steps to heal as a family.”
Barns, a transgender actress who also worked as Tambor’s assistant, accused the actor of behaving inappropriately in private social media posts. Lysette, a trans actress who worked on Transparent in a previous season, also filed a complaint against Tambor, alleging he sexually harassed her on multiple occasions on set. Barnes,
In December, the actor released a statement that seemed to indicate an inevitable exit from the show, but it was quickly walked back. Tambor won two Emmys for Best Actor for his role as Maura Pfefferman.
Transparent is now the second high profile series to move forward without its leading man following sexual misconduct revelations. House of Cards recently began production on its sixth and final season without Kevin Spacey after Spacey was accused of sexual assault by actor Anthony Rapp, who says Spacey made sexual advances towards him when he was 14 years old (and when Spacey was 26 years old).
There’s no word yet if Season 5 will be the final season of Transparent.
Linda Ge | TV Editor
