After the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements have gained momentum over the last year, more and more people are finding the courage to come forward and name those working in Hollywood that commit acts of sexual misconduct. Now, it appears that the latest Hollywood actor to join this ever-growing list is Morgan Freeman.
Freeman is one of those actors in Hollywood that everyone knows. In his 54-year-long career, he's had numerous memorable roles in classic movies, with four Oscar nominations and one win to his name. Even his voice has become iconic, after his voiceover narration for the Academy Award-winning documentaries 'The Long Way Home' and 'March of the Penguins'.
It has now been revealed that Freeman has been accused of inappropriate behavior and harassment by multiple women, after CNN released a report, detailing the testimonies they uncovered during their investigation. One unidentified woman told them that she was harassed by him in 2015, while she was working as a production assistant for the comedy 'Going in Style', in which Freeman starred.
She said he often touched her inappropriately, made comments about her body and clothing regularly. Freeman allegedly "kept trying to lift up my skirt and asking if I was wearing underwear," she said, adding that his co-star Alan Arkin "made a comment telling him to stop. Morgan got freaked out and didn’t know what to say".
In total, 16 people spoke to CNN about Freeman, and eight of them said they were victims of what some called harassment and others called inappropriate behavior. The other eight said they witnessed misconduct, and all described a "pattern of inappropriate behavior by Freeman on set", as well as on promotional tours, and labeled his production company Revelations Entertainment as having a "toxic" work environment.
Another woman explained that he sexually harassed her multiple times on the set of the 2012 movie 'Now You See Me'. "He did comment on our bodies," she told CNN. "We knew that if he was coming by - not to wear any top that would show our breasts, not to wear anything that would show our bottoms, meaning not wearing clothes that [were] fitted." Many of these women said that they didn't report the misconduct because they feared for their jobs.
One manager at his company said that Freeman would sometimes "come over to my desk to say hi and he'd just stand there and stare at me, he would stare at my breasts". She continued:
"If I ever passed him he would stare at me in an awkward way, would look me up and down sometimes stopping and just staring.
"One time he stopped, looked me up and down as I walked into a room of people, and everyone burst out laughing. And I literally froze feeling very uncomfortable and one of the people in the office said, 'Don't worry, that's just Morgan.'"
The actor wasn't in the office on a daily basis, but when he did show up he apparently behaved like a "creepy uncle", according to one male former employee. "One time I witnessed Morgan walk up to an intern and start massaging her," he said. "The intern got visibly red and wiggled out of his grasp, it was awkward."
In light of these comments, CNN has reached out to Freeman's representative, but they have so far declined to comment.
