In early November, Amazon announced it was launching an investigation into claims that Transparent star Jeffrey Tambor had sexually harassed his assistant Van Barnes. Not long after, Tambor’s co-star Trace Lysette said Tambor once cornered her, where he thrust himself against her and talked about attacking her sexually.
Then word broke that the show’s creative team was pondering how to move forward without Tambor in the role of transwoman Maura Pfefferman for season five. And just days after that report, Tambor issued a statement in which he called his Emmy-winning role “one of the greatest privileges and creative experiences of my life,” but seemed to indicate that he was leaving the show when he said “I don’t see how I can return to Transparent.”
Now The New York Times reports that Tambor’s staying put, citing a “representative for the actor [who] disclosed to The Times recently that, in fact, Mr. Tambor had no plans to quit.” For their part, creator Jill Soloway told Deadline they cannot comment on Tambor or the ongoing investigation: “I’m trying just protect the process and make sure that we do the most, have a process with the most integrity to make sure that everybody, that turns out fair, so I’ve been asked not to speak at all about it.”