LOS ANGELES | Jeffrey Tambor, the award-winning star of Amazon Studios television series “Transparent,” is exiting the show, Amazon said on Thursday, following accusations of sexual misconduct.
Tambor, 73, who denied the accusations when they surfaced last November, will not be returning for the upcoming fifth season of the show, Amazon said.
Tambor played the lead role of Maura Pfefferman, a divorced father who transitions to a woman late in life.
The actor could not immediately be reached for comment.
He is the latest celebrity to lose his job in the sexual misconduct scandal that has roiled Hollywood and beyond for the past five months.
The decision comes after an investigation started by Amazon in November into accusations against Tambor by two people on the show. They said Tambor had sexually harassed them and engaged in inappropriate behavior.
Tambor said at the time he would never have intentionally harassed anyone and regretted if any of his actions were misinterpreted as such.
Tambor won two Emmys, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild award for his performance on the show, which was the first Amazon TV original series to garner such critical acclaim.
It was not clear on Thursday how the series, which was groundbreaking for its use of transgender actors and its portrayal of the transgender community, would proceed without him.
“Transparent” creator Jill Soloway said on Thursday she admired the courage of the two people who had spoken out, calling it “an example of the leadership this moment in our culture requires.”
”We are grateful to the many trans people who have supported our vision for ‘Transparent’ since its inception and remain heartbroken about the pain and mistrust their experience has generated in our community. We are taking definitive action to ensure our workplace respects the safety and dignity of every individual, and are taking steps to heal as a family,” Soloway said in a statement.
