CLOSE At the premiere of season five of 'Arrested Development,' the cast talked about what to expect. New episodes begin streaming on Netflix May 29. AP 
 
 Jeffrey Tambor in New York Monday to promote the new season of "Arrested Development." (Photo: Cindy Ord, Getty Images for SiriusXM) 
 
 NEW YORK – Jeffrey Tambor is back in the spotlight, three months after he was fired from Amazon's Transparent following allegations of sexual harassment. 
 
 The two-time Emmy winner is on a promotional tour for Season 5 of Netflix's Arrested Development (streaming May 29), which wrapped production last fall, just after his Transparent co-stars Van Barnes and Trace Lysette came forward with accusations of inappropriate and abusive behavior. Tambor has repeatedly denied the allegations, most recently in The Hollywood Reporter earlier this month. 
 
 Sitting down with his Arrested co-stars Monday, the actor told USA TODAY that he was sad to leave the role of transgender matriarch Maura Pfefferman on Transparent, which will end with a fifth and final season (and without Tambor). 
 
 "I'll miss her terribly," Tambor says. "I just send my love to that cast and that wonderful crew," but "I couldn't be happier" to be a part of Arrested again. 
 
 Tambor will not return to the role of Maura Pfefferman for the fifth and final season of Amazon's "Transparent." (Photo: Jennifer Clasen, Amazon) 
 
 Tambor, who plays the shifty real-estate developer George Bluth Sr. on Arrested, has confirmed occasional outbursts on both sets, telling THR, "I was difficult. I was mean." 
 
 Asked whether there's anything he wishes he'd done differently, Tambor says, "Absolutely. The death of Maura has been like a death. It’s like a grief, but in grief you learn. And I’ve learned that I need to be more patient. I need to be more of a gentleman in how I interact with my castmates and not lose my temper. It has been a real wake-up and I’m, in a way, grateful for that. It’s informing my life right now." 
 
 RELATED: Jeffrey Tambor tells his side of the story on 'Transparent' firing 
 
 MORE: Remix can't save 'Arrested Development' Season 4 from itself 
 
 Tambor's Arrested co-stars have stood by him since allegations surfaced last November, with Jason Bateman calling him an "absolute joy" to work with. But Alia Shawkat, who plays George Sr.'s granddaughter Maeby Fünke, says she supports both the actor and alleged victims, which can be "difficult." 
 
 The Me Too movement "is more powerful than anything I could say and I would never stand against it," Shawkat says. "I know people who are victims of sexual harassment, and it’s important that their voices are heard. ... Because we're entertainers, (the media) want us to choose these very black-and-white sides, and sexual harassment isn't black and white. There's a huge gray area that's never discussed; it's not just about bashing and dragging people through the mud." 
 
 Lucille (Jessica Walter, left), Gob (Will Arnett) and George Bluth Sr. (Jeffrey Tambor) present themselves a "Family of the Year" award in Season 5 of Netflix's "Arrested Development." (Photo: Saeed Adyani/Netflix) 
 
 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2IEcnRL ||||| In his first interview since facing accusations of inappropriate behavior on set, the veteran actor — now back onscreen in 'Arrested Development' — opens up about what he did ("I was mean, I was difficult") and what he claims he didn't do ("the other stuff, absolutely not") in one of the most complex cases of the #MeToo era. 
 
 The 10:15 to Katonah arrives from Grand Central Terminal precisely on schedule at 12:03 p.m. Standing across from the train platform on a chilly Monday in April is Jeffrey Tambor, the 73-year-old veteran actor best known for a trio of roles on groundbreaking series: The Larry Sanders Show, Arrested Development and, most recently, the critically adored and zeitgeisty family dramedy Transparent. It’s in this picturesque suburban hamlet just 47 miles north of the chaos of midtown Manhattan that Tambor and his wife, Kasia, 49, raise their four children who range in age from 8 to 13. And since being fired three months ago from Transparent, it’s here where Tambor has been exiled in what will surely go down as the darkest chapter of his four-decade career. 
 
 Moments later, he is in a coffee shop on the town’s main street. “I love diners,” says Tambor, freshly shaven and neatly dressed in a pinstriped shirt and a zippered navy pullover. “I used to live on 100th and Second Avenue, on the Upper East Side. And I practically lived at a diner.” 
 
 The conversation continues like this for a few minutes, a stiff exchange of pleasantries, during which Tambor twists a plastic straw, shredding its paper sleeve. He pauses. “I have to tell you something,” he says, his fingers trembling. It’s obvious before he says it: He’s nervous. “This is the first time I’ve talked about this, ever,” he says. “And possibly the last time. I used to teach acting, you know, and I’d always say, ‘Announce where you are.’ So this is me doing that.” 
 
 Where Tambor is right now is uncharted territory. He is about to become the first high-profile subject of the sweeping #MeToo movement to sit for an in-depth interview about his alleged sexual harassment scandal. His is a dizzying tale entangled in Rashomon-like perspectives and political trip wires. And at the center of it all stand three figures: Tambor and his two accusers, Van Barnes, Tambor’s former assistant, and Trace Lysette, an actress on the series. 
 
 That Barnes and Lysette are both transgender women is not insignificant. After all, Transparent — led by Tambor’s twice Emmy-winning performance as Maura Pfefferman — was only recently being held up as a beacon of social progressivism, lauded by activist groups like GLAAD for igniting a global transgender movement. In the blink of an eye, however, all that has changed, as Tambor — who admits to having lifelong anger issues but denies sexually harassing his accusers — watched his image go from that of LGBTQ folk hero to fugitive. 
 
 Tambor learned that he’d been fired in a text message from Jill Soloway on Feb. 15. That was the day Amazon — still reeling from the exit four months earlier of its top content executive, Roy Price, over sexual harassment claims — announced it would not be renewing Tambor’s option after an internal investigation. Soloway, the show’s 52-year-old creator and showrunner — whose father’s transition inspired the story — followed up that text with a phone call a few minutes later. Tambor was at his local gym at the time, sweating on a recumbent stationary bicycle. “I don’t remember the whole conversation,” he says. “But I do remember her last words were: ‘Do you need help with a statement?’” He went into shock: “If you can picture a man outside a gym for forever, in his workout shorts and everything, just staring.” Tambor had been preparing himself for “a slap on the wrist” for what he says were his temperamental outbursts on the set. Never did he think his biggest career triumph would end in such unceremonious disgrace. 
 
 The path to the firing began four months earlier, when, inspired by the #MeToo declarations she was seeing on social media, Barnes — a gregarious, 43-year-old blonde who relocated from rural Missouri to Los Angeles for the opportunity of working for Tambor — typed her own #MeToo account on her personal Facebook page. “Oh hell yeah! ME TOO!” Barnes wrote on Oct. 16, 2017. “[I was] even told [by Tambor] that ‘for that kind’a money and after all that time of working for him that I should be sleeping with him if I want a Hollywood-industry-appropriate pay grade.’” 
 
 The post, which never mentions Tambor by name, referred to an employer who gave her “butt pats,” made “‘why aren’t I taking care of him sexually’ comments” and subjected her to “listening to his porno.” Wrote Barnes: “I was depressed and thought about suicide when I left that job.” The post rapidly circulated among the transgender community and beyond. On Nov. 8, 2017, Amazon Studios confirmed that an investigation into Barnes’ claims was in its “early stages.” Tambor released a statement that day dismissing Barnes as a “former disgruntled assistant ... I am appalled and distressed at this baseless allegation.” 
 
 One person who read Barnes’ post with interest was Lysette. A striking brunette with fair skin and aquamarine eyes, Lysette, who prefers not to disclose her age, grew up in Dayton, Ohio — she choreographed a dance routine for her high school cheerleading squad — then moved to New York City, where she began transitioning to female. She later found work at a Manhattan strip club, where she never let on to the clientele that she was transgender. After a bad breakup led to a suicide attempt — she slit her wrists on a side street walking home from the strip club one night — Lysette was admitted to Bellevue Hospital’s psychiatric ward. After her release, inspired by the success of the transgender actress Laverne Cox on Orange Is the New Black, she continued to pursue her acting dreams. By 2013, she was flying to Los Angeles to audition for the role of Davina on Transparent, a trans woman who takes Maura under her wing. “We met with many, many trans actresses and writers in our outreach,” says Soloway of that early hiring sweep. (Since creating Transparent, Soloway has started self-identifying as “gender non-binary”; the pronoun “they” is preferred instead of “she.”) The part ended up going to another actress, Alexandra Billings, but Lysette impressed Soloway enough to have her own character written into the show — a yoga teacher and stripper named Shea. 
 
 According to Lysette, then a Hollywood neophyte, the unsolicited advances from Tambor started early on. “They began as flirtation — kisses on the forehead, which was awkward,” she tells THR. “But part of me was like, ‘OK, maybe he just thinks of me as a daughter figure or something.’" Lysette says the unwanted affection spilled onto red carpets. “I would kiss him on the cheek and it would land on my lips,” she recalls. 
 
 It wasn’t until the filming of the third episode of season two, “New World Coming,” that Lysette felt Tambor had crossed a clear line. While shooting a breakfast scene in skimpy pajamas, Lysette says she was told by Tambor, “My God, Trace, I want to attack you sexually.” (Billings, who was also in the scene, confirms her account to THR). Recalls Lysette, “We were like, ‘What? Who says that?’” A few minutes later, she says, Tambor “waddled over to me in his pajamas and put his feet on top of mine, and started these little, like, thrusts on my hip. They were discreet and insidious and creepy. I felt his genitals on me. And I pushed him off.” 
 
 On Nov. 16, Lysette detailed that incident in a statement to THR. “Given the circumstances of my life,” she wrote, “I was used to being treated as a sexual object by men — this one just happened to be famous.” She went on to express her hope that Amazon would “find good in this, and use this as an opportunity to re-center the other trans characters in this show. Don’t let the trans community suffer for the actions of one cis male actor. Remove the problem and let the show go on.” 
 
 That Tambor is cisgender, or identifies as his birth sex, was a sticking point for many in the trans community from the start. At a season one screening at the Directors Guild of America, an audience member said Tambor’s performance was “like watching blackface” and that he should be replaced by a trans actress. The suggestion mortified Tambor, literally. “I just made like a possum and played dead,” he recalls. “I remember turning to my right and Jill was in tears.” As the show grew in popularity and acclaim, so did the “elephant in the room,” as Tambor puts it. “Because the revolution got bigger. So the very thing we were doing, the awakening to this movement, made the disparity [of my non-transness] more apparent.” 
 
 After Lysette’s claims went public, Tambor convened an emergency meeting with his wife, Poland-born actress Kasia Ostlun, and his reps, including Gersh’s Leslie Siebert, his agent of 30 years. “My advice to him was be truthful,” Siebert recalls. “Tell people your understanding and your truth. That’s all you can do.” 
 
 They crafted a second statement, this one taking on a measure of culpability. “I find myself accused of behavior that any civilized person would condemn unreservedly,” it read. “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.” 
 
 The following day, Tambor received an email from Faith Soloway, 54, Jill’s older sister and a writing producer on Transparent. “I can quote it verbatim because I’ve looked at it for five months,” Tambor insists. He would not show the email to THR, but a source confirms its content. “It said, ‘We are in a coup. You are fucking fantastic. You have changed the world. We have changed the world. We will get through this. Love, love, love, Faith.'” 
 
 Faith Soloway confirms having sent the email. "Things were happening so quickly, with people being accused and held accountable by the #MeToo movement," she says. "In the moment I felt that Jill and Jeffrey were under attack. I knew that some people disapproved of Jeffrey, a cisgender actor, playing Maura and I was upset that Jill, as the show's creator, hadn't had the opportunity to address the issue privately [before it went public]. As the story broke, I also sent messages of support to Trace and Van, and after the allegations were presented, I never disbelieved them. I still, hope everyone can learn and heal from this.” 
 
 The message sent a “shock wave” through him because it led him to believe that “something was up, over and above me. Some dots were not connecting.” Suspecting he was being set up to be ousted because he is cisgender, Tambor released a third, more pointed statement on Nov. 19. “What has become clear over the past weeks,” he wrote, “is that this is no longer the job I signed up for four years ago ... Given the politicized atmosphere that seems to have afflicted our set, I don’t see how I can return to Transparent.” 
 
 Despite having been widely interpreted as such, the statement was never meant to be a definitive resignation letter, Tambor maintains, adding he “chose those words exactly to be a little abstract.” That evening, he says, he received an email from Jill Soloway (which Soloway confirms she sent). “She wrote these words: ‘They have been after Maura from the beginning.’” 
 
 Soloway responds: “While much of the trans community immediately embraced the show, some vocally opposed the casting of a cis man, Jeffrey, in the lead role. This sentiment has persisted in parts of the community — coming up again on social media in the wake of these allegations. It was a text I wrote in frustration after pouring my heart into this show for years. I wanted to tell a story that brought power and visibility to trans people, and to my own family’s journey into understanding, acceptance, and pride.” 
 
 Over the phone, they discussed how to proceed, which for Tambor would be “one of the top-five difficult phone calls of my life.” 
 
 In it, Soloway — frantic and highly emotional over the beloved series’ implosion — asked Tambor if he would be “open to a third way.” Soloway suggested that, going forward, Tambor appear in the series only in flashback, as Mort Pfefferman, Maura’s pre-transition self. It was a not ideal but potentially workable concession to those who felt Tambor’s performance was an offensive example of “transface,” as some critics referred to it. Of course, the plan did nothing to address the Pandora’s box of sexual misconduct allegations that had just spilled into headlines. For the sake of the show, Tambor tentatively agreed to play the pre-trans character, just as soon as he was cleared by Amazon of the more ominous charges. 
 
 But that would not happen. Tambor was interviewed for nearly 10 hours during the inquiry, in two marathon sessions. “My lawyer was present,” he says, obviously reluctant to get into the details. “They asked me questions, and I responded to the questions. And that’s pretty much what I want to say about that.” Others were interviewed, as well. Staffers were asked whether Tambor had ever kissed them on the lips — which was something he often felt comfortable enough to do in their cozy work environment. “It’s a really loose set,” says one high-ranking producer who asked not to be identified. “Everybody behaves in a sensual manner because it’s a show about sex. Everyone says things like, ‘You’re so hot, oh my God. I had a dream about you last night.’” As Jay Duplass, who plays Maura’s music producer son, Josh, on the show, once put it, “Your job as an actor is to be emotionally present ... Or in the case of Transparent, have a ton of sex.” 
 
 Lysette never wavered on her story, telling investigators that she reported the thrusting incident promptly and that no action was taken. "I told plenty of people," she says. "I told people outside of Transparent, I told people inside Transparent.” One of those people was her roommate, Zackary Drucker, a 35-year-old producer on the show, who is also a trans woman. Drucker did not pass on the information. 
 
 “Trace and I shared many, many conversations during our time as roommates,” says Drucker. “Since I don’t have a clear memory of this conversation, it didn’t register to me as something I was meant to, or needed to, report in the context of our professional relationship.” 
 
 Barnes, meanwhile, had been laying low from the press; she’d signed a nondisclosure agreement with Tambor as part of her employment. But, on Feb. 26, a few weeks after Tambor was fired, Barnes’ lawyer told her the NDA was no longer in effect, and she gave an interview to THR. “I was barely at minimum wage, which was a clear abuse,” Barnes said, claiming she had to endure Tambor’s severe mood swings and round-the-clock demands. Despite Barnes’ reputation for having a raunchy sense of humor — “She’s the dirtiest fucking talker in the world,” is how one staffer puts it — Tambor’s alleged offensive talk and occasional “butt pats” made Barnes increasingly uncomfortable. “Toward the end, he had proposed to me that I be his mistress,” she said. “His actions have jeopardized many people’s jobs, especially many transgender people struggling to find work in Hollywood. ... He has done this to himself.” 
 
 Barnes continued speaking out on March 7, when she appeared on Megyn Kelly Today to add a startling new detail to her accusation: that Tambor had once watched her sleeping naked. She said it happened, bizarrely, when Barnes, Lysette and Tambor were living together under the same roof in Drucker’s parents’ home in Highland Park, northeast of downtown L.A., where Barnes was house-sitting over the summer. Lysette, still based in New York at the time, was occupying one of the bedrooms. Before production on the second season began, there was a two-week window until Tambor’s Pacific Palisades rental home would be ready. “He said, ‘You’re house-sitting, aren’t you? Do you mind if I stay with you?’” Barnes recalls. “I thought it was really weird. Here’s a guy of means, but he can’t afford a hotel for two weeks?” 
 
 Tambor confirms sharing living quarters with Barnes and Lysette — “My arrangements hadn’t come together. In retrospect, I should not have stayed there and just waited for my house to become ready” — but insists Barnes’ claims that he observed her sleeping naked are completely fabricated. Asked to address other specific allegations, including the propositioning and physical touching, he grows reticent. “I don’t want to characterize them,” he says. “What I said was that she was a disgruntled assistant. I think that was generous of me. I dispute her account. I did raise my voice at times, I was moody at times, there were times when I was tactless. But as for the other stuff, absolutely not.” 
 
 Siebert admits to having been aware of her client’s mercurial reputation. “He’s guilty of being an asshole at times, and being, you know, temperamental and moody,” she says. “And he feels awful about it and apologizes, and he’s working on himself. But in the 30 years I’ve worked with him, I’ve never been told about any behavior like what these women are accusing him of.” Tambor acknowledges the occasional outburst on previous shows — he references one “blowup” with actress Jessica Walter on Arrested Development for which he later “profusely apologized” (a rep for Walter says, “Jessica does not wish to talk about Jeffrey Tambor”) — but that something about Maura, his obsessive determination to make her as authentic as possible, brought out the worst in him. 
 
 “I drove myself and my castmates crazy,” he says. “Lines got blurred. I was difficult. I was mean. I yelled at Jill — she told me recently she was afraid of me. I yelled at the wonderful [executive producer] Bridget Bedard in front of everybody. I made her cry. And I apologized and everything, but still, I yelled at her. The assistant directors. I was rude to my assistant. I was moody. Sometimes I didn’t talk at all. And this is where the reader says, ‘So what?’ You know? ‘You’re coming in from the Palisades, you drive in, you get a good paycheck, you get to play one of the best roles in the world. So. What.’” He stares down at his barely touched lunch, a grilled ham and cheese sandwich propping up a pile of french fries. “But I was scared, because I was a cisgender male playing Maura Pfefferman. And my whole thing was, ‘Am I doing it right? Am I doing it right? Am I doing it right?’ To the point that I worried myself to death.” 
 
 Soloway and Tambor have not spoken since Feb. 15. That’s the day Soloway issued a statement expressing “great respect and admiration for Van Barnes and Trace Lysette, whose courage in speaking out about their experience on Transparent is an example of the leadership this moment in our culture requires.” Tambor issued his own rebuttal, saying he was “profoundly disappointed” in the “deeply flawed and biased” investigation’s outcome and “even more disappointed in Jill Soloway’s unfair characterization of me as someone who would ever cause harm to my fellow castmates.” 
 
 Tambor is still wounded by what he characterizes as his abandonment by Soloway. “I said to her, ‘Since you know the truth, would you make a public statement on my behalf?’ It’s my biggest disappointment that she hasn’t.” To that, Soloway responds: “I never told him I was going to accuse Van or Trace of being liars. He knew that nobody could do that. And I was really working with him to help him understand that a simple apology would go a really long way. I was hoping to get him there.” 
 
 Soloway’s own thinking on Tambor has evolved since the controversy broke. “I was hoping, in those early days, before Trace’s initial statement came out, that it all could have been a big misinterpretation — that one person’s harassment is another person’s dirty joke.” Eventually, Soloway realized the #MeToo movement was a “global tsunami — there’s nothing I could have done to stop it.” As for the allegations, Soloway contends that “it’s not a simple case of did he do it or didn’t he do it. Nobody said he was a predator — they said he sexually harassed people. He made enemies, and I don’t think he realized he was making enemies. You have to be very, very careful if you’re a person in power and treat people very appropriately.” 
 
 As for the future of Transparent, Soloway has begun to feel “a tiny bit like we are going to be OK.” The writing staff has begun discussions on how to tackle the show’s fifth — and, Soloway reveals, final — season. “Hopefully it sets the Pfeffermans up with some sort of beautiful reclaiming,” Soloway says. “I think we’re going to get there with some time.” 
 
 Since going public, Lysette and Barnes have taken different paths: Lysette is still pursuing acting in L.A. and has become politically active, speaking at events like the Las Vegas Women’s March and attending Time’s Up meetings. Barnes has returned to Missouri and enrolled in cosmetology school. “I have turned a new leaf!” Barnes wrote in an April 26 Facebook post. “This did not come with any assistance from my previous employer Transparent, nor Amazon or the fake feminist Jill Soloway, who found reason to fire our perpetrator, & instead of offering me financial reparations to upright myself again, offered me a Go Fund Me.” 
 
 As for Tambor, he has only just begun to emerge from what he calls a “fugue state.” When speaking about Maura, he almost exclusively uses the terminology of death and grieving. He’s currently reading two books on the subject, The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully and The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying. He breaks down in tears five separate times over the course of this interview, making note of it each time he does. “She was like a friend,” he says of Maura. “That may trigger eye rolls, but she was very real to me. And I think in many ways much more awake than I.” He says he still has regular conversations out loud with Maura and is deeply disappointed that she won’t ever get “to find her significant other.” 
 
 Despite his troubles, he still has a job on Arrested Development, the Netflix comedy in which Tambor plays the patriarch of another dysfunctional California clan, the Bluths. Its fifth season premieres on the streaming service May 29 in order to qualify it for the Emmy voting window. The scandal provided an unwelcome distraction during the final months of production, which began in August 2017 and wrapped in December. Nevertheless, Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos tells THR that it was a smooth shoot and Tambor will be in attendance at upcoming media appearances, including a May 17 premiere event in Hollywood. “In making and promoting seasons four and five of Arrested Development,” Sarandos says, “Jeffrey has always been totally professional.” So far, Tambor has earned support from fellow castmember David Cross (“A number of us stand behind him, ... and I am one of them,” Cross told amNew York in an interview) while another, Alia Shawkat, who also appeared on Transparent, told IndieWire she was “surprised” by the allegations but “supports the voice of the victims.” 
 
 Later that afternoon, after mixing with the locals at a nearby bookstore cafe — he offers one young man, an aspiring actor, some advice about an upcoming audition — Tambor turns back to the matter at hand, pledging the lessons he needed to learn have been learned. “People change,” he insists. “It’s already changed my behavior on set. Just walking in here today, into this cafe, I hadn’t seen the owner in a long time. I mean, do you hug? Do you not hug? When you see fans ...” He trails off. “You know what I do feel? More present. Everything’s just clearer to me.” 
 
 Tambor spends as much time as he can with his children, whom he’s attempted to shield from his ordeal. His favorite activity is reading bedtime stories to his 8-year-old twins Hugo and Eli. “I know Goodnight Moon pretty well,” he says. “And there’s this other book about a bear hunt. I’ve read it to every generation of child. They go on a bear hunt and they say, ‘Uh-oh, there’s mud! You can’t go over it, you can’t go under it. Got to go through it.’ And I can’t think of anything more typical in my life right now.” 
 
 May 7, 3:45 p.m. Updated to clarify that Trace Lysette was not a member of her high school cheerleading squad, but did choreograph a dance with the team for a halftime show. 
 
 This story also appears in the May 2 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe. ||||| WALTER But not like that, not like that. That was bad. 
 
 HALE Not like that. But I’m saying we’ve worked together 15 years, there has been other points of anger coming out. 
 
 BATEMAN Exactly. Again, there is context. What we do for a living is not normal, and therefore the process is not normal sometimes, and to expect it to be normal is to not understand what happens on set. Again, not to excuse it, Alia, but to be surprised by people having a wobbly route to their goal, their process — it’s very rarely predictable. All I can say, personally, is I have never learned more from an actor that I’ve worked with than Jeffrey Tambor. And I consider him one of my favorite, most valued people in my life. 
 
 CROSS I agree with everybody. And I think it’s important to note — and it hasn’t been noted — that this kind of behavior that’s being described, it didn’t just come out of the blue. It wasn’t zero to 60. There is a cumulative effect sometimes. 
 
 BATEMAN You have different people’s processes that converge and collide at times. So Jeffrey is not just popping off, coming out of his car and some unhinged guy. 
 
 CROSS That’s what I’m trying to say. 
 
 BATEMAN Not to say that you know, you [Walter] had it coming. But this is not in a vacuum — families come together and certain dynamics collide and clash every once in a while. And there’s all kinds of things that go into the stew so it’s a little narrow to single that one particular thing that is getting attention from our show. 
 
 WALTER Only because you brought it up, Jeffrey, in that article! I never would have brought it up. 
 
 BATEMAN I didn’t mean to speak for you. That was part of his process of being as contrite and as transparent as he felt like he could and should be, and wanted to at the time. ||||| It's official: Jeffrey Tambor will not be returning to Amazon Studios' Transparent in the wake of sexual harassment claims and a subsequent internal investigation by the retail and streaming giant. 
 
 Amazon confirmed the news Thursday, noting that it had completed its internal investigation into the Emmy-winning actor. Tambor will have no role in the forthcoming season of the Jill Soloway critical darling. 
 
 "I have great respect and admiration for Van Barnes and Trace Lysette, whose courage in speaking out about their experience on Transparent is an example of the leadership this moment in our culture requires," Soloway said Thursday in a statement. "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." 
 
 "I am profoundly disappointed in Amazon's handling of these false accusations against me," Tambor said Thursday evening in a statement. "I am even more disappointed in Jill Soloway's unfair characterization of me as someone who would ever cause harm to any of my fellow cast mates. In our four-year history of working together on this incredible show, these accusations have NEVER been revealed or discussed directly with me or anyone at Amazon. Therefore, I can only surmise that the investigation against me was deeply flawed and biased toward the toxic politicized atmosphere that afflicted our set. As I have consistently stated, I deeply regret if any action of mine was ever misinterpreted by anyone and I will continue to vehemently defend myself. I also deeply regret that this ground-breaking show, which changed so many lives, is now in jeopardy. That, to me, is the biggest heartbreak." 
 
 The news comes after a November statement from Tambor, who faced multiple allegations of sexual harassment, in which he said that he couldn't "see how I can return to Transparent." 
 
 At the time, sources told The Hollywood Reporter that while Tambor hinted that he was leaving Transparent, he never outright said he was exiting the show. Amazon Studios, which owns and produces the Soloway series, had been investigating the actor and has now made its official decision that he will not have any role in the show's upcoming fifth season. 
 
 Transparent castmember Lysette previously told THR that Tambor sexually harassed her on multiple occasions, claiming he "got physical" in one instance. After the alleged physical assault, which took place on set, Lysette said she felt like she was being targeted and sexually harassed by Tambor. Working with the actor "has been a roller coaster. One minute Jeffrey is lovely, the next it's a temper tantrum or flirtation," she said. (Tambor, in a statement, acknowledged that he can be "volatile and ill-tempered" to work with, "but I have never been a predator — ever.") 
 
 Lysette was the second transgender actress to go public with misconduct allegations against Tambor. His former assistant, transgender actress Van Barnes, accused the actor of behaving in a sexually inappropriate manner in a private social media post. Amazon immediately launched an investigation into the Transparent star on Nov. 8. At the time, Soloway told THR, "Anything that would diminish the level of respect, safety and inclusion so fundamental to our workplace is completely antithetical to our principles. We are cooperating with the investigation into this matter." 
 
 The Transparent writing staff, sources say, began reworking the upcoming fifth season following news of the first allegation against Tambor as the series mulled refocusing the show without its star. The show was renewed for a fifth cycle ahead of season four's debut. The new season was set to begin production and premiere this year. 
 
 Here is Tambor's original statement, in which he hinted at his exit: 
 
 "Playing Maura Pfefferman on Transparent has been one of the greatest privileges and creative experiences of my life. What has become clear over the past weeks, however, is that this is no longer the job I signed up for four years ago. I've already made clear my deep regret if any action of mine was ever misinterpreted by anyone as being aggressive, but the idea that I would deliberately harass anyone is simply and utterly untrue. Given the politicized atmosphere that seems to have afflicted our set, I don't see how I can return to Transparent." 
 
 When speaking with THR ahead of season four, co-star Alexandra Billings, who also supported Lysette's claims, acknowledged that Tambor, a cis man, would never have been cast in the lead transgender role if the show had launched in 2017. "There would be a backlash unlike anything," said the transgender actress and activist. "Anytime it happens, those projects go away. There have been two movies that have come out with cis people in the lead playing trans people, and they disappeared. So first of all, that speaks to our power. And second of all, that speaks to the fact that the consciousness in America is changing." 
 
 For her part, Lysette had a recurring role on Transparent's first three seasons and played Shea, a friend and mentor to the transgender matriarch Pfefferman. Lysette was prominently featured in a groundbreaking one-episode role and promoted on season four with the rest of the cast. When going public with her allegations, she had asked that Amazon remove Tambor but let Transparent and its trans-affirmative action mission go on: "It's vital that the show's creator, showrunner and its studio re-center the narrative of Transparent on the experiences of the other trans characters and family members audiences have grown to love on the series." 
 
 Before the allegations against Tambor, creator Soloway had spoken about a multiple-season plan, even joking about going on for 10 years. "[The Pfeffermans] give birth to so much and I really do feel like they are just getting started. Maura is definitely just getting started," the showrunner, who now identifies as gender non-binary, said when speaking with THR about the influence the semi-autobiographical comedy has had on their own self-discovery. 
 
 Soloway's Transparent put Amazon on the map as the streamer's third original scripted series and went on to critical praise. Tambor won two Emmys for his groundbreaking portrayal as a 70-year-old who comes out as a transgender woman to her family. The actor's scandal puts Amazon in a role similar to Netflix and its House of Cards, with the latter firing star Kevin Spacey after multiple sexual assault allegations against the actor. 
 
 The Tambor allegations are the latest controversy to hit Amazon Studios. The streaming outlet parted ways with head Roy Price after The Man in the High Castle executive producer Isa Dick Hackett went public with her sexual harassment allegations against the company's top-ranking scripted exec. Amazon Studios went on to cut ties with head of drama and comedy Joe Lewis after conflict-of-interest allegations, and Price's close friend and head of unscripted Conrad Riggs also departed. 
 
 Soloway, meanwhile, is under a lucrative overall deal with Amazon Studios and re-upped the pact for another three years, which is set to run through 2021. Under the deal, Soloway created the comedy I Love Dick, which was canceled last year after one season. 
 
 The news of Tambor's firing comes days after Amazon Studios hired NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke to replace Price. 
 
 Deadline was first to report Tambor's exit. ||||| 'Arrested Development' review: even better 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Photo: Mike Yarish, Netflix Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Image 1 of 5 Jason Bateman stars in the return of "Arrested Development" on Netflix. Jason Bateman stars in the return of "Arrested Development" on Netflix. Photo: Mike Yarish, Netflix Image 2 of 5 ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT: Guest star Mary Lynn Rajskub (L) Jeffrey Tambor (C) and guest star John Slattery (R) in a scene from Netflix's "Arrested Development." ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT: Guest star Mary Lynn Rajskub (L) Jeffrey Tambor (C) and guest star John Slattery (R) in a scene from Netflix's "Arrested Development." Photo: Sam Urdank, Netflix Image 3 of 5 This undated publicity photo released by Netflix shows David Cross, left, and Portia de Rossi in a scene from "Arrested Development," premiering May 26, 2013 on Netflix. The sitcom, also starring Jason Bateman and Will Arnett, was canceled by Fox in 2006 after three seasons. (AP Photo/Netflix, Sam Urdank) less This undated publicity photo released by Netflix shows David Cross, left, and Portia de Rossi in a scene from "Arrested Development," premiering May 26, 2013 on Netflix. The sitcom, also starring Jason Bateman ... more Photo: Sam Urdank, Associated Press Image 4 of 5 Will Arnett stars in the return of "Arrested Development" on Netflix. Will Arnett stars in the return of "Arrested Development" on Netflix. Photo: Michael Yarish, Associated Press Image 5 of 5 Jason Bateman and Liza Minnelli in "Arrested Development." A slew of guest stars in recurring roles and cameos dots the fourth season. The show is returning after being on hiatus since '06. Jason Bateman and Liza Minnelli in "Arrested Development." A slew of guest stars in recurring roles and cameos dots the fourth season. The show is returning after being on hiatus since '06. Photo: Mike Yarish, Netflix 'Arrested Development' review: even better 1 / 5 Back to Gallery 
 
 Arrested Development: Season four available for streaming on Netflix.com. 
 
 OK, so where were we? 
 
 "Arrested Development" is back after a hiatus that lasted too long for anyone who loves great television. And with the premiere of its fourth season Sunday on Netflix, it proves that there is still hope for sitcom genius from the TV industry, especially if it's created by Mitchell Hurwitz, narrated by Ron Howard and features one of the greatest ensemble casts of all time. 
 
 With expectations as high as they are among "AD" fans, do the new episodes live up to those of the first three seasons which ended in 2006? Yes, and then some: The new season is not only as smart and absurdly funny as ever, but also reflects the rapid changes in how we watch television. 
 
 Netflix and other new content providers get that people want to watch an episode of a show when they want to watch it. And if they want to watch two, give them two to watch. Three? Why not? For that matter, why not the entire "season"? 
 
 Yes, you can do this with any television show, including those in a traditional weekly format whose full seasons are now available on platforms like Netflix and Hulu. But the fact that the new "AD" episodes are even more self-contained than those of the first three seasons makes them an even better fit for new content providers. 
 
 Hurwitz gives each character his or her own episode in the early part of the new season. I don't mean that "Michael's 'Arrested Development' " features only Jason Bateman, but that the episode catches us up on how the character got from where he was in the third season to becoming a producer on a Ron Howard film about the Bluth family. 
 
 Getting caught up 
 
 When the show ended in 2006 with the episode titled "Development Arrested," it seemed at first as though Michael Bluth (Bateman) had finally succeeded in making his self-indulgent family's crooked business enterprise at least profitable enough to offer some hope for the future. But the episode ended with matriarch Lucille (Jessica Walter) commandeering the long-docked Queen Mary to escape the police boats, and Michael's alleged twin Lindsay (Portia de Rossi) learning she was actually adopted, which meant that Michael's son George Michael (Michael Cera) wasn't committing incest when he made out with his supposed cousin Maeby (Alia Shawkat). Michael's brother Gob, pronounced "Jobe" and played by Will Arnett, was about to unveil his Aztec Tomb magic trick, which served only as a temporary way for George Sr. (Jeffrey Tambor) to avoid the authorities. The eternally terrified Buster Bluth (Tony Hale) tumbled overboard and was confronted immediately by his greatest fear in life - a live seal - as Michael and George Michael happily sailed away into the sunset, leaving the rest of the clan to their own devices. 
 
 The fourth season begins with an episode called "Flight of the Phoenix," which refers in the show's context to both the city of Phoenix and the online University of Phoenix. However, the myth of the phoenix is that it was a bird that rose from the ashes, and that pretty much describes the history of "Arrested Development" too. 
 
 I don't want to spoil too much for anyone who didn't stay up all night binge-watching the 15 new episodes, but they quickly establish that while some things have changed, the Bluth family's craziness is as rampant as ever, and Michael has little hope of escaping them. 
 
 The umbrella story arc has to do with getting the family together to testify on Lucille's behalf at her upcoming trial for stealing the Queen Mary. Meanwhile, George senior's twin, Oscar (both played by Tambor), has set up a sweat lodge on the U.S.-Mexican border that George commandeers and turns into something he calls "Sweat 'n Squeeze" - a way to con money out of rich guys. The compound includes "visitor yurts." 
 
 A new start and cameos 
 
 Lindsay goes off to India to find personal awakening but comes back with fake designer bags and a willingness to work on her marriage to Tobias. She instead falls for another guy whose girlfriend, DeBrie (Maria Bamford) had a brief role in a quickie film version of "The Fantastic Four." 
 
 For his part, Tobias wants to make a new start. In fact, he orders specialized license plates announcing his new start. Except that the guy who once thought he could find success by combining being a therapist and an analyst, and advertised his trade as "Analrapist," comes up with a similar new word for his license plate, "Anustart." Among the many pleasures of watching the new episodes is spotting cameos. Between the guest stars in recurring roles and the cameos, it's as though everyone in Hollywood wanted to get in on the "Arrested Development" action. Guest stars include Kristen Wiig and Seth Rogen as younger versions of George and Lucille, as well as Christine Taylor, Liza Minnelli, Amanda de Cadenet, John Krasinski, James Lipton, Andy Richter, Isla Fisher, Ed Helms, Bernie Kopell, Max Winkler playing a young version of his dad Henry's role as Barry Zuckerhorn, Scott Baio as Bob Loblaw, John Slattery, Debra Mooney, Conan O'Brien, Brian Grazer, John Beard, Ron Howard (in addition to narrating) and the three guys from Comedy Central's "Workaholics," Adam DeVine, Blake Anderson and Anders Holm, as three extremely passive-aggressive airline ticket agents. 
 
 OK, so when can we expect season five? ||||| Netflix debuted all 15 episodes of the revived, beloved series Sunday, featuring the original cast, a slew of A-list guest stars and numerous go-to references. 
 
 Having watched all 15 episodes of the new season of Arrested Development, this is the first thing you should know: Watch all 15 -- in a marathon (or two, if needed). And you'll probably want to watch them again after that. 
 
 Not only is there a real brilliance to how the episodes are constructed, but after a slow-ish start (as creator Mitch Hurwitz and his writers no doubt had to get their mojo back, but also because the structure is incredibly intricate and, at first glance, there seems to be a disjointed feeling to them), the comedic payout begins to multiply with each succeeding episode. 
 
 PHOTOS: From 'Arrested Development' to 'House of Cards,' Exclusive Portraits of Netflix's Stars 
 
 The Rashomon-style storytelling takes a bit to get used to, and the sometimes feverish flow of the jokes (which fans may remember from the hall-of-fame first three seasons) struggle to unleash themselves in the first couple of episodes, but then it snowballs into seven-and-a-half hours of hilarity just waiting for a movie to follow it up. 
 
 That, of course, was the whole intention of this Netflix idea. A two-hour big-screen movie about a cult television series wouldn't really fly if newbies had no idea who the characters were or what the recurring jokes might be. Part of the reason that Arrested Development is revered as one of the greatest comedies of all time is that Hurwitz and his writers spent an inordinate amount of time stuffing jokes into each 22-minute episode (until Fox scheduled it against the Olympics and killed it). That layering of the humor -- multiple jokes in every scene -- was the kind of effort that paid off for fans who discovered the series by DVD or Netflix long after it was on Fox. 
 
 The fact that Arrested Development could contain, simultaneously, a verbal joke, a visual joke, a physical joke, several call-back mentions to past jokes (stretching back to previous seasons) and even humor in the voice-over narration and music was an epic effort that was, sadly, lost on most network viewers back in the day. 
 
 This fourth "season" was created as a way to tell a complicated backstory that would set up a movie. Whether that movie will ever get made, who knows, but there is enough closure on these 15 episodes as a television season -- and enough unresolved issues -- for a movie. Perhaps it will be a win-win. 
 
 Much has been written about how the Netflix format -- dropping all the episodes online at the same time for marathon viewing or binging as you wish -- had allowed Hurwitz to tinker with the traditional narrative format. Tinker he did. Although the initial conceit was that viewers could actually watch the episodes out of order, it's certainly best to watch them in a row. 
 
 PHOTOS: 'Arrested Development' Premiere: A Bluth Family Reunion 
 
 But it's impossible to give Hurwitz enough credit for the insane number of call-back jokes, feints, altered point-of-view translations of innumerable punch lines and the nutty way Arrested Development plays as a Rubik's Cube of laughter. Repeat viewings after the initial run would, in fact, be perfectly acceptable in an out-of-order fashion just to better appreciate the skill that went into the season. Not only does this format fit what Netflix is all about, it rewards all the effort that it will take on the part of viewers to suss out the jokes. (You'll definitely want to freeze-frame anything that has printed material in it). In essence, the way the series is constructed rewards repeat viewings however randomly they're watched. 
 
 When telling the "story of one family whose life was abruptly canceled," Hurwitz and his writing team give each character his or her own episode (sometimes more than one, of course) and very rarely has the cast in the same scene (logistics issues). Fear not, however, because apparently every funny actor in Hollywood has a cameo in this season of Arrested Development. Seriously, you'll give up counting (but still smile when you see them). 
 
 A smattering of those: Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Ben Stiller, Ed Helms, Terry Crews, Judy Greer, Andy Richter, Jeff Garlin, Liza Minelli, John Beard -- and the list goes on until you lose track (and not knowing is part of the joy, so let's leave it at that). 
 
 The main cast, of course, shines as expected. Jason Bateman's impeccable comic timing, so essential to the success of the original series, doesn't miss a beat here. Will Arnett is comic gold. Jessica Walter and Jeffrey Tambor are flawless (and Tambor does double-duty as George and Oscar). Michael Cera, Tony Hale, David Cross, Portia de Rossi, Alia Shawkat, Ron Howard -- everybody has their own standout moments. Cross' "speaking in a misleading way" is such a tour de force of cluelessness from the character and a willingness to go for it from the actor. Cera taps into the geeky naivete from the past but also grows up and expands the character. The number of painful laughs generated by Hale is countless. 
 
 All of your favorites -- both fringe characters and go-to references -- are back in force during season four. Barry Zuckerkorn (Henry Winkler), Ann Veal (Mae Whitman), Annyong (Justin Lee), Steve Holt (Justin Grant Wade), Bob Loblaw (Scott Baio), James Lipton, Carl Weathers and many more. 
 
 PHOTOS: 'Arrested Development' Returns: 17 Posters for the New Netflix Episodes 
 
 Also present: "I've made a huge mistake." The Cornballer. No touching. Buster's maps. Lucille's wink. Dangerous Cousins. And yep, you'll laugh at other familiar call-backs, just as a whole slew of new references will enter your vocabulary, such as "straightbait," "Hello darkness my old friend," "roofie circle," "face-blindness," "Anustart," "the old noodle thrust," "A much-vaunted yes" and "China Garden," plus sublime jokes about Google, lemonade, Imagine Television and Eat, Pray, Love. 
 
 The beauty about the Netflix version of Arrested Development is that, given the laws of time and hype, it should not have succeeded. If you were on Twitter in the early light of Sunday, when it launched, you would have read some discouraging comments (more proof that recaps of individual episodes are a mug's game) and perhaps felt the twinge yourself of over-anticipation, when jokes seemed to fall flat or scenarios made no sense. But the series quickly found its pacing; the elaborate Rashomon structure revealed its glorious ambition and the combination of absurdity and intelligence meshed as well or better than you may have remembered from the original three seasons. 
 
 While there are countless jokes that could be recalled here, why spoil the fun? If you were holding your breath that a legend un-retiring might be a disaster in the making, breathe deep, carve out some time for a marathon or a binge, then set aside even more time to go back for what you missed. Hurwitz, his writers (particularly Jim Vallely), the directors and all the actors put a lot of genius into the resurrection of this classic. And if you don't have a Netflix subscription, well, why do you think they made more of this thing? 
 
 Email: Tim.Goodman@THR.com 
 
 Twitter: @BastardMachine ||||| Trace Lysette, who plays yoga instructor Shea on the series, is the second accuser to allege misconduct by the show's star; Amazon says the new information "will be added to our ongoing investigation." 
 
 In the second season of Transparent, the groundbreaking Amazon series that traces one father's journey to womanhood, Maura Pfefferman — played by Jeffrey Tambor, in a role that has won him two Emmys — struggles to find the right inflection for the popular queer catchphrase, "Yas queen." 
 
 Her teacher is Shea — played by Trace Lysette — a yoga teacher and sometimes stripper, who steps in to show her fellow transgender, a newbie, the ropes. 
 
 The moment, which went viral shortly after the season debuted in November 2015, plays out as sweet, hilarious and authentic. But Lysette now says the circumstances around its filming were anything but. 
 
 According to Lysette, when she emerged from wardrobe in her costume — a salmon-colored lingerie top and matching short-shorts — Tambor remarked, "My God, Trace. I want to attack you sexually." Alexandra Billings, the third actor in the scene, was present to hear the remark, she confirms. Both "laughed it off because it was so absurd," Lysette says. 
 
 A few minutes later, while waiting for a camera setup between takes, Lysette was standing in a corner of the soundstage set. That's when she says Tambor, dressed as Maura, wearing a green satin kimono and gray wig, approached her. 
 
 "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. I felt his penis on my hip through his thin pajamas," Lysette says. 
 
 Lysette pushed Tambor away and "rolled my eyes." Billings was not present for this alleged incident, and several crewmembers were nearby "but they were focused on their jobs. It was discreet. If you were behind Jeffrey you might have thought he was giving me a hug." 
 
 The actress, who is transgender, is the second on the Transparent payroll to come forward with allegations that Tambor, 73, has subjected them to sexual harassment, sexual assault and generally abusive behavior on the set of the critically adored series. 
 
 The first accuser, Van Barnes, is a trans woman who worked as Tambor's personal assistant, and whose allegations have led to an internal investigation by Amazon Studios. She has previously appeared on E!'s I Am Cait. 
 
 According to Barnes' lawyer Alana Chazan, her client signed a nondisclosure agreement while working for Tambor and therefore could not comment on Lysette's claims. Nor would Barnes detail what workplace abuses she allegedly suffered at Tambor's hands — accusations which were made in a private Facebook post that had leaked and circulated within Hollywood transgender circles. 
 
 A copy of that Facebook post was obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. In it, Barnes, without directly naming Tambor, vents about an employer who made comments like "I should be sleeping with him if I want a Hollywood industry appropriate pay grade" and "it wouldn't take long, he pops quick." She says the employer subjected her to "butt pats," pornography played at loud volumes, and complaints that she "was useless, could do nothing right." 
 
 "Despite having made no public statements to date, the disclosure of Van Barnes' identity by the press has already led to Ms. Barnes receiving numerous threats and harassment online," Chazan says. "Ms. Barnes is cooperating with the investigation being conducted by Amazon and will not be making a statement while the investigation is pending." 
 
 Lysette shared a house with Barnes while Barnes worked as Tambor's assistant. "She would pick him up in the morning and bring him home at night and everything in between," Lysette recalls. "She would come home wrecked and stressed. I saw him break her down. She for the most part kept it to herself. She was just like, 'Girl, he is a piece of work. If you only knew what I’m going through.' But I knew." 
 
 For Lysette, an acting neophyte who came to Hollywood directly from New York City, where she worked as a dancer, Tambor's attentions began early and innocently enough. 
 
 She describes a moment in her first season on the show, a scene set in a yoga studio, when she had trouble finding her mark. "Jeffrey stepped in and said, 'Come on, that’s hard. I couldn’t even do that.' And then he and the [director of photography] had a little back and forth. He was sticking up for me." 
 
 When the exchange was over, Tambor approached Lysette and "kissed me on the forehead and was like, 'Are you good?' I said, 'Yeah, I’m fine.' It started with things like that. Telling me I looked great, things like that." 
 
 As Lysette began to step into the spotlight and enjoy her first tastes of fame, she recalls running into Tambor at red carpet events, where she "would go to hug him and kiss him on the cheek — and it would land on my lips. And I was like, 'OK. What was that about?'" 
 
 She says it wasn't until the filming of the "yas queen" scene and the alleged physical assault that she was certain she was being targeted and sexually harassed by Tambor. From that moment on, she says life on the set with the actor "has been a roller coaster. One minute Jeffrey is lovely, the next it's a temper tantrum or flirtation." 
 
 Lysette describes another moment "that sticks in my brain" from later in production of season two: Tambor had set up a meeting between Lysette and his manager for potential representation. 
 
 Lysette thanked Tambor for the gesture, she says, "and he said, 'Well, yeah Trace. I really believe in you. And you know what? I don't even want to have sex with you.' And then he just looked at me as if he very much indeed wanted to have sex with me. It was an up-and-down look. I rolled my eyes and went to my trailer and thought, 'This man is something else.'" 
 
 Both Lysette and Barnes say they approached Transparent producers with their complaints about Tambor, but no action was taken. 
 
 Tambor issued this statement to THR in response to Lysette's allegations: 
 
 For the past four years, I’ve had the huge privilege — and huge responsibility — of playing Maura Pfefferman, a transgender woman, in a show that I know has had an enormous, positive impact on a community that has been too long dismissed and misunderstood. Now I find myself accused of behavior that any civilized person would condemn unreservedly. 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. 
 
 An Amazon spokesperson says, "This information will be added to our ongoing conversation." 
 
 Lysette issued this statement to THR: 
 
 Last week, it was reported in the media that Van Barnes, who previously worked as Jeffrey Tambor's assistant while shooting Transparent, had privately spoken out on her social media about her experiences of abuse. Sadly, I must add my voice to the chorus. Jeffrey has acted inappropriate to me too. 
 
 Jeffrey has made many sexual advances and comments at me, but one time it got physical. 
 
 One day on set during Season 2, Jeffrey, Alexandra Billings and I were all outfitted in pajamas. I was in a flimsy top and matching short shorts. Upon seeing my in my costume, Jeffrey sexualized me with an over the top comment. Alexandra and I laughed it off because it was so absurd and we thought surely it had to be a bad joke. I shook it off. Then later, in between takes, 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 thin pajamas and I pushed him off of me. Again, I laughed it off and rolled my eyes. I had a job to do and I had to do it with Jeffrey, the lead of our show. When they called action, I put that moment in the corner into its own corner of my mind. Compartmentalizing has always been part of my survival took kit, long before I came to Hollywood. It's shitty to admit out loud — and I don't say it to justify what I went through — but given the journey and circumstances of my life, I was used to being treated as a sexual object by men — this one just happened to be famous. 
 
 Despite multiple uncomfortable experiences with Jeffrey, it has been an incredible, career-solidifying honor to bring life to my character Shea on Amazon's Transparent. Working on the award-winning series as a low-income trans woman with active roots in New York's ball culture is a rare opportunity most of my sisters are not given. 
 
 My hope is that Amazon can find the good in this, and use this as an opportunity, a teachable moment to re-center the other trans characters in this show with the family members instead of just pulling it. Let our brilliant writers continue to craft something that is entertaining and creates a 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. As trans-women and survivors we have often felt we never had the power of the voice to speak out on our personal and collective pain. I am so proud of my work on Transparent and its "trans-affirmative action" mission, as coined by its creator Jill Soloway. And I call on Amazon to make another bold affirmative move to our communities: Remove the problem and let the show go on. It's vital that the show's creator, showrunner and its studio re-center the narrative of Transparent on the experiences of the other trans characters and family members audiences have grown to love on the series.
– Jason Bateman is apologizing a day after an emotional interview with the cast of Arrested Development was published by the New York Times ahead of the show's fifth season. It touched upon allegations of sexual misconduct against star Jeffrey Tambor, as well as his admission earlier this month, via the Hollywood Reporter, of a "blowup" with TV wife Jessica Walter. "In like almost 60 years of working, I've never had anybody yell at me like that on a set. And it's hard to deal with," 77-year-old Walter, who described the incident as verbal harassment, eventually revealed through tears. But first, her male co-stars jumped to Tambor's defense. David Cross stressed it was "important to remember" Tambor "learned from the experience." "Not to say that ... [Walter] had it coming," added Bateman. But "families come together and certain dynamics collide and clash every once in a while." With critics pointing out how Walter's male co-stars interrupted her while trying to "mansplain her situation," per the Washington Post—Alia Shawkat, the only other female cast member present, defended Walter—Bateman took to Twitter Thursday to say he was "incredibly embarrassed and deeply sorry" for his comments. "I was so eager to let Jeffrey know that he was supported in his attempt to learn, grow and apologize that I completely underestimated the feelings of the victim," he wrote. "This is a big learning moment for me." Tambor previously told THR he had "profusely apologized" to Walter. "I was difficult. I was mean" on sets, he said, but he claimed his firing from Transparent was "a real wake-up," per USA Today. "I've learned that I need to be more patient," he continued. "I need to be more of a gentleman in how I interact with my castmates and not lose my temper."