Derrick Salters/WENN.com
Multiple women have come forward to CNN to share their professional experience working with Morgan Freeman and how he harassed them. A production assistant detailed the time in 2015 on the set of Going In Style when Freeman tried to lift up her skirt and in 2012 he sexually harassed multiple women on the set of Now You See Me. A total of eight women have come forward about Freeman harassing them.
The 80-year-old Oscar winner has been accused of multiple accounts of harassment from various movie sets over the last years. An Phung and Chloe Melas, the CNN reporters, spoke to 16 people about Freeman’s behavior and the stories of the eight women who were victims of his harassment. “These 16 people together described a pattern of inappropriate behavior by Freeman on set, while promoting his movies and at his production company Revelations Entertainment.”
CNN broke down the 16 people’s experience with Freeman and exactly what allegedly went down. “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.”
Phung and Melas made it clear that not everyone they talked who has worked with Freeman has witnessed this behavior. But there were several times before they even named Freeman the person filled in the blanks and correctly guessed who they were reporting on.
But it wasn’t just his co-workers that were subjected to his behavior. “Three entertainment reporters who spoke to CNN said Freeman made inappropriate remarks to them during press junkets, which are publicity events for journalists who cover new films, typically attended by the movie’s biggest stars,” CNN reports.
Melas who is one of the reporters was one of the entertainment reporters Freeman made inappropriate comments too. She recalled that during the press junket for Going In Style she was pregnant and Freeman told her while looking her up an down, “I wish I was there.” And then told her “You are ripe,” all while the cameras were rolling.
“Afterward, Melas reported what had happened to her supervisor, who instructed her to inform CNN human resources,” CNN reports. “Melas and her supervisor agreed that she would not cover the movie.”
Six former employees at Freeman’s production company Revelations Entertainment have witnessed Freeman’s behavior. They ever described the work environment to be toxic thanks to Freeman and co-creator Lori McCreary. One employee recounted how Morgan would distinctively stare at her breasts and how one time he massaged an interns shoulders. Two male employees talked about how they witnessed Freeman asking female employees to “twirl” for him.
Multiple employees recounted Freeman’s behavior at his 79th birthday party that Revelations Entertainment threw for him. There were a lot of new employees at the party so they stood in a circle and introduced themselves.
A former Revelations executive said that Freeman went up to every woman in the circle and 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.”
The CNN report goes into greater detail about Freeman’s harassment allegations and has multiple witnesses corroborate the allegations.
