Hollywood is rotten to its core.
One sex scandal after another is causing seismic shifts in the industry that loves to preach.
The latest allegations could torpedo Amazon’s flagship television show.
Jeffrey Tambor, star of “Transparent” (a show about a retired father who transitions to a woman), is coincidentally being accused of harassing his transgender assistant.
From Deadline.com:
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.”
This investigation into Tambor comes as the Jeff Bezos-founded studio has seen a near exodus of executives in recent weeks, led by studio head Price, who was suspended and subsequently resigned after details became public about how he had lewdly propositioned The Man in the High Castle executive producer Isa Dick Hackett during San Diego Comic-Con in 2015.
Price had been the subject of an investigation by Amazon after Hackett relayed the Comic-Con incidents to company executives. The studio later said that “we looked closely at this specific concern and addressed it directly with those involved.” Price stayed in his job for over two years until the spotlight on disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein’s alleged decades long behavior of sexual harassment and sexual assault also turned toward Price and his conduct.
If the allegations are true, Amazon may have to scuttle their award-season darling the same way Netflix did with “House Of Cards” after Kevin Spacey’s disgusting scandal.
Spacey will also be recast in the December release of “All the Money in the World,” which illustrates how seriously Hollywood is finally addressing its sexually coercive environment.
Tambor vehemently denies the claims, so the industry will eagerly wait for the facts to come out. If the allegations are proven false, it could create another problem for Hollywood.
The proliferation of true allegations could lead to a wave of false ones, which could paralyze the industry.
This is what happens when bad behavior is tolerated for too long. You reap what you sow.