Jeffrey Tambor Denies Sexual Harassment Allegations Again, But Admits to Being Mean

Jeffrey Tambor is speaking out again in response to sexual harassment allegations.

The 73-year-old Transparent actor continues to deny the allegations from actress Trace Lysette and former assistant Van Barnes. He did admit to being “difficult” and “mean” on set though.

“I don’t want to characterize them,” Tambor told THR about the allegations. “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.”

Tambor says playing Maura Pfefferman brought out a different side of him.

“I drove myself and my castmates crazy,” he said. “Lines got blurred. I was difficult. I was mean. I yelled at [series creator] Jill [Soloway] — 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?’” he added. “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.’ … 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.”

Read more on THR.com.