The Fifth Season Of “Transparent” Might Not Include Jeffrey Tambor
Earlier this month, Jeffrey Tambor’s former assistant Van Barnes accused him of “acting inappropriately” around her. Jeffrey denied it, and accused her of being “disgruntled” (so basically, he’s Hank Kingsley in real life?). Merely saying you didn’t do it isn’t enough to make it go away, and Jeffrey’s bosses at Amazon, who produce Transparent, decided to look into it.
Deadline says that the writers of Transparent are preparing for the possibility that Amazon may drop Jeffrey and they’re imagining a fifth season without the trans parent. Deadline says that, like House of Cards, and Jeremy Piven’s Wisdom of the Crowd, the show could potentially face a decision to write Jeffrey out or just end the show. Deadline thinks Wisdom, a show I’m sure prompts even CBS’s most loyal seniors to change the channel, could probably get cancelled. But Transparent is a prestige series for Amazon and has won a bunch of awards, like 8 Primetime Emmys, so cancelling it probably isn’t the way they’ll go.
Transparent creator Jill Soloway released a statement after the allegations were made against Jeffrey. She claimed any behavior that might diminish respect, safety, and inclusion was “completely antithetical to our principles,” and that they were cooperating with Amazon during their investigation.
Neither Amazon nor Jill Soloway have said anything about a possible character re-write. The fourth season of Transparent premiered back in September, so there’s time to decide what to do. Jill Soloway has said before that if she could do it again, she’d cast a trans woman in the lead role. Caitlyn Jenner is probably furiously searching for Jill’s contact information right now. Not only is she a trans woman, she also loves acting. Just look at all the times she acts like she still talks to her kids.
Pic: Amazon