“Transparent” might kill off Jeffrey Tambor’s character, following his sexual misconduct allegations

In the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct against Transparent star Jeffrey Tambor, series creator Jill Soloway is reportedly working to rewrite the upcoming fifth season without Tambor’s Maura.

Yesterday, Trace Lysette, who plays Maura’s friend Shea on the hit series, came forward to allege she had also been sexually harassed by the Emmy Award-winning actor on the set of the series. The new allegations come just weeks after Tambor’s former assistant Van Barnes accused the Transparent star of sexual misconduct. While Tambor denied the allegations, Amazon launched an internal investigation against the actor.

Tambor has since released a statement denying the allegations of sexual misconduct, but admitted to being difficult to work with. He wrote, “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.”

Despite her harrowing experience with Tambor on the set of Transparent, in a statement to Twitter, Lysette, a trans woman, lauded the series for its treatment and employment of people in the transgender community. She then called on Amazon to continue the groundbreaking series without Tambor — and right now, it sounds like that might be what happens.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Transparent’s showrunner and creator, Jill Soloway, has asked for time to figure out what to do with Tambor’s Maura. The fifth season of Amazon’s critically acclaimed series is already in production and eyeing a late 2018 release, but Soloway is “asking for the right amount of time to creatively write Maura out of the show, possibly with a death.”

Tambor has played the role of Maura, a retired political science professor and newly out transgender woman, on the series since its premiere in 2014.