Academy Award winner and beloved actor Morgan Freeman, 80, has been accused of sexual harassment.
People who have worked with Freeman on movie sets and for his production company, Revelations Entertainment have claimed harassment and inappropriate behavior from Freeman.
One of the most timely recent allegations comes from a woman who was a production assistant, during the summer of 2015 for the film Going In Style, a comedic heist film starring veteran actors Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Alan Arkin.
The woman claims Freeman made unwanted advances and comments about her body and clothes nearly every day. He even repetitively attempted to lift her skirt, she claims. Later on, she said, Alan Arkin told Freeman to stop and Freeman had no response.
There are also reports that Freeman made similar discriminative comments on set of the 2012 movie Now You See Me as well. One-way women have said that they combated the alleged harassment by not wearing certain clothes when they thought Freeman would be around them.
A former male employee of Revelations said he witnessed Freeman massaged an intern’s shoulders before she maneuvered out of his grip.
There are also reports that Freeman has asked women to twirl for him and that he stared women up and down during his 79th birthday party in 2016, according to CNN.
Freeman founded Revelations Entertainment in 1996 along with co-founder Lori McCreary. McCreary may have been demeaned by inappropriate comments from her business partner. During a 2016 conference, in front of an audience Freeman described what McCreary was wearing when they first met.
A former Revelations executive saw that McCreary was very distraught when she returned to the office, according to CNN.
“I tried to console her and she was clearly upset and I think she was surprised,” the former executive said, “and found it hurtful and embarrassing. She was devastated.”
Despite these claims of abuse, there are still several people who have interacted with Freeman and praise him, never seeing his behavior to be anything but professional, CNN reports.
Since the release of allegations, Freeman has released a public statement apologizing for making anyone feel uncomfortable.
“Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows I am not someone who would intentionally offend or knowingly make anyone feel uneasy,” Freeman said. “I apologize to anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected, that was never my intent.”
Many may be wondering why allegations are coming out now. This can be answered by a statement from a production assistant who worked with Freeman on The Dark Knight.
“…if you report somebody, like Morgan Freeman, that the movie would lose a lot of money by replacing them or getting them in trouble, then you’re the trouble maker and you’ll get fired because you’re just a PA.”
More time will help determine the innocence or guilt of Morgan Freeman.
