A slew of allegations have been set against Morgan Freeman including inappropriate touching and harassment, which includes at his production company, on set and at various gatherings. Is Morgan Freeman the next powerful man in Hollywood to be found out guilty for sexual harassment?
As of now, 16 people have spoken to CNN about Morgan Freeman as part of CNN's investigation. Eight claim to be victims of so-called harassment and/or inappropriate behavior by Freeman. Eight apparently witnessed Freeman's alleged inappropriateness. These 16 people allegedly say that this happened while at the set, promoting his movies and at the production company Revelations Entertainment, owned by Freeman.
One accuser was at the time a young production assistant who in the summer of 2015 was working on Going In Style, a comedy starring Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Alan Arkin.
The situation allegedly became several months of harassment, she told CNN, including unwanted touching and comments about her body on a very frequent basis.
Examples are Freeman would touch her back unwantedly, including rubbing it.
She says at one time Freeman, "kept trying to lift up my skirt and asking if I was wearing underwear." After not being allowed to lift it but repeatedly trying to, "Alan [Arkin] made a comment telling him to stop. Morgan got freaked out and didn't know what to say."
Another source is a woman who was a senior production staff member for Now You See Me in 2012.
She stated to CNN that Freeman harassed her and her co-workers by making inappropriate comments about their bodies, saying, "He did comment on our bodies... 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."
Seven out of 16 people said that Morgan Freeman at Revelations Entertainment perpetrated harassment or inappropriate behavior. One incident allegedly was witnessed by Lori McCreary, Freeman's co-founder and another said Morgan Freeman made demeaning comments about her in a public setting.
Four people in production capacities on movie sets say within the last ten years he has created a toxic working environment for women.
Two, including the aforementioned production assistant, said they were touched, while three said he made public comments about the female body.
All of them say they were hesitant to make a report since Morgan Freeman is a power-house in the movie industry.
There were, however, a significant number of people who replied to CNN's query saying Morgan Freeman is respectable and would not do that.
Contrary to that are the reports when their reporters contacted potential sources about allegations of sexual harrassment without revealing the name of that person, the sources repeatedly asked if they were talking about Morgan Freeman.
In addition, former employees of Revelations Entertainment allege Freeman and Lori McCreary both created a toxic workspace filled with ambiguous and odd sexual tones that were suffocating, always on the precipice of physical or publicly spoken degradation but just stopping short of abuse.
A female employee who worked at Revelations while on the set of Through the Wormhole stated that the first time she met him, Freeman, "looked me up and down," and asked, "How do you feel about sexual harassment?"
A manager at Revelations alleges he would, "come over to my desk to say hi and he'd just stand there and stare at me. He would stare at my breasts. If I ever passed him he would stare at me in an awkward way, would look me up and down sometimes stopping and just be 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.' That sort of interaction was when I stopped wearing a skirt around the office when he was there. I can't say it was an accident that I'd be wearing a potato sack and a ponytail on certain days when he was there and do my best to avoid him when he was in the office."
Another former employee of Freeman, a man, said he was like a "creepy uncle," and,"One time I witnessed Morgan walk up to an intern and start massaging her. The intern got visibly red and wiggled out of his grasp, it was awkward."
At a 79th birthday party thrown for Freeman at Revelations, a former Executive stated that new employees mostly attended (around 30 people in total) and that everyone stood in a circle and had to say who they were and what they did.
When he met those who were women in the circle he would, "stand maybe within an inch of their face and just look them up and down and not say anything, and then would move on to the next woman and he'd stand like within an inch of their face and look them up and down and not say anything, and it was really, really strange. It was really weird and he did it to every woman but of course, he didn't do it to any of the men. He didn't speak to any of the men."
Also a writer for Madam Secretary who attended stated, "We saw Morgan go around to the girls in the circle and get really close to their faces, he didn't do it to the men. I don't know what he said but we all thought it was strange and couldn't wait to get the hell out of there. Absolutely there were sexual undertones to it."
Other writers for the show joke about the same writer recently said, "that Morgan would be the next person to be called out," against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement.
"Morgan did things in a way that an older more established person can get away with because they have that power. They can't be replaced, but you can be replaced very easily, that's just kind of the dynamic on set. PA's can be replaced, grips can be replaced, electricians can be replaced, but the actors -- once they're in, they're in. Had it been somebody else on the crew... I would feel comfortable reporting them because I wouldn't feel like my job would be in danger by reporting them, but 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 troublemaker and you'll get fired because you're just a PA."
Morgan Freeman has allegedly harassed others, including reporters and writers and other staff, but no firm claim has been snatched that can pin down Freeman at the moment, according to CNN.
Freeman's spokesperson has not replied to CNN's reports. However, after CNN printed the story Freeman himself made the statement:
"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."
While the news from CNN is explosive it is not yet damning testimony, but certainly, it has the capacity to affect Freeman's career. Only after a comprehensive investigation by professionals with an expertise in handling such cases can any claim made by these sources can be proven true and then the extent of his alleged harassment must be looked into.
Reporting the allegations is important, but it is not enough. It is unfortunate to think Freeman is a toxic person but that has yet to be proven outright. But if these reports are true, he must be held accountable.