The latest to join the ever-growing list of men accused of sexual misconduct in 2018 is none other than Morgan Freeman. The Academy Award-winning actor, star of such beloved films as The Shawshank Redemption, The Dark Knight, and Million Dollar Baby, has been accused of harassment or inappropriate behavior by eight women.
CNN broke the story, which reveals a troubling pattern of unwanted sexual comments and touching on the sets of several recent movies, and at the offices of Freeman’s production company, Revelations Entertainment.
Four people who worked in production capacities on movie sets with Freeman over the last ten years described him as repeatedly behaving in ways that made women feel uncomfortable at work. Two, including the production assistant on “Going in Style” whose skirt he allegedly attempted to lift, said Freeman subjected them to unwanted touching. Three said he made public comments about women’s clothing or bodies. But each of them said they didn’t report Freeman’s behavior, with most saying it was because they feared for their jobs. Instead, some of the women — both on movie sets and at Revelations — said, they came up with ways to combat the alleged harassment on their own, such as by changing the way they dressed when they knew he would be around.
The CNN story details many ways Freeman has allegedly made the workplace–whether on set or in the office–a toxic environment, along with some specific instances. On the set of the 2015 heist caper, Going in Style, co-star Alan Arkin reportedly had to tell Freeman to stop attempting to lift a production assistant’s skirt.
Freeman’s behavior apparently also spilled out into other work environments as well. One of the CNN reporters who co-authored the exposé claims that she was, herself, a victim of the 80-year-old actor’s inappropriate comments and overlong handshakes when she interviewed the cast of Going in Style at a junket in 2015. Other entertainment journalists mentioned in the piece report similar behavior.
Freeman has yet to respond to the story, which you can read the rest of here.
UPDATE: Freeman has since responded to the CNN report with the following apology: “Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows I am not someone who would intentionally offend or knowingly make anyone feel uneasy. I apologize to anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected — that was never my intent.”
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