Morgan Freeman Defends Himself As Video Of Harassment Surfaces

LOS ANGELES, CA — Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman issued a series of statements over the weekend attempting to salvage his reputation after CNN broke a story accusing him of sexually harassing eight women.

Even as the Screen Actors Guild reconsiders the once-venerated actor’s Lifetime Achievement Award and Entertainment Tonight released video of Freeman making suggestive comments to reporters, Freeman called on fans to differentiate between “misplaced compliments” and sexual harassment or sexual assault. He added that he was "devastated that 80 years of my life is at risk of being undermined, in the blink of an eye, by Thursday's media reports."

On Thursday, CNN reported that eight women, including entertainment reporters, employees at his Los Angeles production company Revelations Entertainment and staffers on the set of Freeman’s films claimed he made them uncomfortable with unwanted touching or comments about their bodies. Morgan responded with a series of apologies and a plea to fans to recognize the difference between his behavior and that of others facing ruin in the age of the #MeToo movement.

"All victims of assault and harassment deserve to be heard. And we need to listen to them. But it is not right to equate horrific incidents of sexual assault with misplaced compliments or humor,” Freeman wrote in a statement released over the weekend.

"I admit that I am someone who feels a need to try to make women—and men—feel appreciated and at ease around me. As part of that, I would often try to joke with and compliment women, in what I thought was a light-hearted and humorous way. Clearly I was not always coming across the way I intended. And that is why I apologized Thursday and will continue to apologize to anyone I might have upset, however unintentionally.

"But I also want to be clear: I did not create unsafe work environments. I did not assault women. I did not offer employment or advancement in exchange for sex. Any suggestion that I did so is completely false."

The story was initialed by one of Freeman's own accusers, a CNN entertainment reporter Chloe Melas. Melas claims, he sexually harassed her when she interviewed Freeman during the promotion of his 2017 comedy "Going in Style." Melas was six months pregnant at the time, and she claims Freeman made suggestive comments about how he wished he was there when she got pregnant.

CNN also quoted a young production assistant who worked on the set of"Going in Style" in 2015. The woman, who declined to be named, says she was subjected to unwanted touching and near-daily comments about her body. She claims Freeman "kept trying to lift up my skirt and asking if I was wearing underwear." The woman says Freeman only stopped when co-star Alan Arkin told him to. Four others who worked on movie sets with Freeman over the past 10 years told CNN he repeatedly made women feel uncomfortable at work.

Following the CNN story, numerous other outlets reported on Freeman’s alleged harassment with Entertainment Tonight releasing footage of Freeman making lewd remarks to reporters during press junkets.
In a 2016 interview released by Entertainment Tonight the actor asks reporter Ashley Crossan if she's ever "fooled around with older guys." In a 2015 Entertainment Tonight interview, Freeman says to correspondent Janet Mock, "You got a dress halfway between your knee and your hips, and you sit down right across from me and you cross your legs."

Entertainment Tonight published a statement by Mock about the incident.

"For me, as a young woman of color, who is a reporter and a fan of popular culture, I was deeply disappointed that someone who was seen as America's grandfather was susceptible to such disturbing behavior and felt comfortable enough to do that as cameras were rolling, and that he could take claim of my body and look at it before even looking into my eyes," she said.

People magazine followed suit, publishing an account by the magazine’s

Maggie Parker, a reporter who says Freeman implied he wanted to see her naked at the premiere of "Now You See Me," in 2013, according toCNN.

City News Service contributed to this report. Photo: EDITORS NOTE: Image has been shot in black and white. Color version not available. Actor Morgan Freeman poses in the trophy room at the 24th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 21, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. 27522_012 (Photo by John Sciulli/Getty Images for Turner)