Jeffrey Tambor is being investigated for harassing his transgender assistant
Jeffrey Tambor has won tons of awards for his work on Transparent. Tambor is a cisgendered actor playing a trans woman who transitioned late in life. Tambor and the show have won Emmys, BAFTA TV Awards, Golden Globes, SAG Awards, you name it. The show is produced by Amazon Studios, and in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein revelations, many executives at Amazon Studios have been outed as harassers and predators, and many have already lost their jobs. Well, now Jeffrey Tambor is being accused of harassment or “inappropriate behavior” towards his former assistant, who obviously worked alongside Tambor on Transparent.
Three weeks after Amazon Studios boss Roy Price resigned over sexual harassment claims, the company is conducting an investigation into allegations against Transparent star Jeffrey Tambor. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed to Deadline that the company has initiated an investigation. In a statement, Tambor himself calls the claims “baseless.”
In its early stages, the probe primarily stems from allegations by Tambor’s former assistant Van Barnes of implied inappropriate behavior on the part of the Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Awards winner. The investigation into the claims by the transgender Barnes, which she made online in a private Facebook post, began earlier this week, we hear.
“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,” Tambor told Deadline today. “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 person I have ever worked with. I am appalled and distressed by this baseless allegation.”
Amazon’s stance on such allegations is to investigate promptly and thoroughly, a source says. The investigation is in the process of speaking to members of the Transparent production and Tambor personally. The Jill Soloway-created series, Amazon’s flagship comedy, is currently not in production.
“Anything that would diminish the level of respect, safety and inclusion so fundamental to our workplace is completely antithetical to our principles,” Soloway said in a statement today. “We are cooperating with the investigation into this matter.”
As well as working for Tambor on Transparent, Barnes has also appeared on E! now-shuttered I Am Cait with Caitlyn Jenner and the Amazon documentary anthology miniseries This Is Me back in 2015.
[From Deadline]
Depending on the specifics of Van Barnes’ accusation, I feel like there could be some trickiness around this case specifically because of the transgender issue of the show. Tambor was playing a transgender character, and he was working closely with a transgender assistant, and I could see how an actor in that situation would consider certain questions and conversations “doing research” while the victim sees certain questions and conversations as harassment. That being said, if Van Barnes expressed discomfort and Tambor continued, then it’s pretty clear-cut. We also don’t know exactly what Tambor is accused of (because this is being dealt with in-house), and it could be something other than verbal harassment. Plus, it seems like “anything goes” over at Amazon Studios, so I don’t know what or who to believe. Ugh.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Source: Jeffrey Tambor is being investigated for harassing his transgender assistant
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