‘Transparent’ co star alleges impropriety by Jeffrey Tambor

FILE: Jeffrey Tambor (Photo By Red Carpet Report on Mingle Media TV – Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)

LOS ANGELES — An actress on “Transparent” says the show’s star Jeffrey Tambor pressed his body against hers in a sexually aggressive manner and made inappropriate and unwanted sexual statements on the set of the show.

Tambor denies the allegations saying in a statement that he has “never been a predator — ever.”

Tambor, 73, plays the transgender matriarch of the Pfefferman family on “Transparent,” which streams on Amazon.

The actress, Trace Lysette, who is herself transgender, said in a statement to Deadline on Thursday that when she emerged from wardrobe in a costume of a lingerie top and shorts for a scene with Tambor, he said, “My God, Trace. I want to attack you sexually.”

Lysette said she and another actress laughed off the remark, but then Tambor approached her between scenes a few minutes later.

“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 back and forth against my body,” Lysette said. “I felt his penis on my hip through his thin pyjamas.”

Lysette urged Amazon in her statement to “remove the problem and let the show go on.”

Amazon Studios says it is adding the information to an investigation of Tambor it opened last week when his assistant made similar allegations, which Tambor also denied, calling her “disgruntled.”

Tambor said in a statement that he can be difficult to work with, but denied any sexual misbehaviour.

“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,” he said. “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. “

Tambor is the latest high profile Hollywood figure to be accused of misconduct in a wave that began when dozens of sexual harassment allegations were reported last month against film mogul Harvey Weinstein.