Trace Lysette, who played a yoga teacher named Shea who mentored Tambor's trans character on the Amazon series, released a statement in which she details Tambor's alleged harassment.
According to Lysette, when she emerged from wardrobe in a skimpy lingerie outfit, Tambor remarked, "My God, Trace. I want to attack you sexually." Actress Alexandra Billings confirms she also heard the remark. Both "laughed it off because it was so absurd," Lysette says.
But a few minutes later, while waiting for a camera setup between takes, Lysette says Tambor (in costume as Maura) came up to her. "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 thrust[s] back and forth against my body. I felt his penis on my hip through his thin pajamas," Lysette says in the statement obtained by THR.
"I laughed it off and rolled my eyes," Lysette said in the statement. "I had a job to do and I had to do it with Jeffrey, the lead of our show." She said it wasn't the first time she had been "treated as a sexual object by men — this one just happened to be famous."
Lysette, who is transgender, said that despite "multiple uncomfortable experiences with Jeffrey," working on the show has been "an incredible, career-solidifying honor" and "a rare opportunity."
Tambor responded to Lysette's accusation in his own statement in which he said, "I am not a predator."
For the past four years, I've had the huge privilege — and huge responsibility — of playing Maura Pfefferman, a transgender woman, in a show that I know has had an enormous, positive impact on a community that has been too long dismissed and misunderstood. Now I find myself accused of behavior that any civilized person would condemn unreservedly. 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. 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 and the idea that someone might see me in that way is more distressing than I can express.
According to Deadline, Season 5 of the Emmy-winning series (which has not yet started filming) might now happen without Tambor.
Last week, Amazon began investigating Tambor's behavior after a former assistant accused him of harassing her. Tambor admitted he had "acted in an improper manner toward her," but also claimed that she was a "former disgruntled assistant."
"Transparent" creator Jill Soloway told EW, "Anything that would diminish the level of respect, safety, and inclusion so fundamental to our workplace is completely antithetical to our principles. We are cooperating with the investigation into this matter."
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