Transparent Actress Trace Lysette Accuses Jeffrey Tambor of Sexual Advances  

By Whitney Kimball  |  November 18, 2017 | 9:16pm
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Actress Trace Lysette has accused Jeffrey Tambor of sexual harassment, for lack of a better word for what to call a man rubbing his boner on you.

Lysette is the second woman, after Tambor’s former assistant Van Barnes, to accuse him of “advances”; one, she said, was physical. She tweeted on Thursday night that while shooting a scene in season 2 in which she, Alexandra Billings, and Tambor were wearing pajamas, Tambor made a sexualizing “over the top comment.” Then, in between takes, she claimed that he closed in:

…I stood in a corner on the set as the crew reset for a wide shot. My back was against the wall in a corner as Jeffrey approached me. 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 thrusts back and forth against my body. I felt his penis on my hip through his pajamas and I pushed him off me.

Deadline has reported that earlier in the month, Barnes alleged in a private Facebook post that her unnamed “former boss” “had repeatedly propositioned her, made lewd comments, groped her and threatened to sue her if she spoke up.” Amazon is investigating those claims.

Like Barnes, Lysette is transgender and implores Amazon not to cancel the show but rather to “re-center the other trans characters” so that they can continue to improve trans visibility. She writes:

Let our brilliant writers continue to craft something that is entertaining and creates social change the way they know how. Don’t let the trans community suffer for the actions of one cis male actor. Transparent has been a guiding light in the industry, by employing more trans people in Hollywood than any other production in history, which made it even more difficult to speak out.

On Friday, Tambor put out a statement denying their stories to US Weekly. He said:

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.

Read Lysette’s full statement below:

 
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