‘Transparent’ Actor Jeffrey Tambor Written Out Of Season 5 After Harassment Claim

After allegations surfaced that Transparent star Jeffrey Tambor sexually harassed a transgender woman who was working as his assistant, writers on the hit Amazon series are planning to write Tambor’s character out of the series for season 5. Writers say they were working on season 5 of Transparent when word surfaced that Jeffrey Tambor was under investigation.

It’s worth noting that Amazon has not made a comment about Tambor or the investigation, and so it seems that the creator and writing staff of Transparent are just being proactive. There has reportedly been no official complaint against Jeffrey Tambor, but a transgender woman named Van Barnes made claims in a private Facebook post that detailed inappropriate behavior that Tambor allegedly engaged in while she worked for the 73-year-old star.

But for the record, Jeffrey Tambor denies that he ever behaved inappropriately toward Barnes or anyone else on the set.

“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. 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 persons I have ever worked with.”

It is also possible that the Transparent writers have taken the temperature at Amazon after the head of Amazon Studios was dismissed for sexually harassing writers on the series, The Man In The High Castle. Roy Price’s dismissal seems to have set a tone at Amazon that the writing staff of Transparent is likely responding to by writing Tambor out.

Amazon renewed Transparent for season 5 before any allegations were made against Tambor, so the show’s writers have to decide whether or not to move forward without Tambor’s character, Maura Pfefferman. While it would be possible to proceed without Tambor and the character of Maura, it likely would be a different show as “Maura has been the heart of it.”

Deadline is revealing that Transparent is just one of the shows in a holding pattern over sexual harassment allegations involving the lead in a series. Wisdom of the Crowd with Jeremy Piven and House of Cards with Kevin Spacey are trying to figure out if their shows can survive without their embattled leads.

Jeffrey Tambor has not been fired from Transparent, which is different from the Kevin Spacey situation in the Netflix series, House of Cards. As of this writing, nobody else has come forward to accuse Tambor of behaving inappropriately on the set of Transparent.

Moving forward, there has been talk of all studios insisting upon some sort of morality clause which all production companies have not insisted upon in the past.

[Featured Image by Richard Shotwell/AP Images]