Playing with fire: ‘I’m sexist but not misogynist’

Morgan Freeman sparks controversy during panel discussion.

Morgan Freeman has called himself “sexist but not a misogynist” during a panel discussion in which he made repeated references to the length of his producing partner Lori McCreary’s skirt.

“She doesn’t want to be thought of as a pretty face,” Freeman was quoted by The Guardian as saying. “She wants to be thought of as serious. But you can’t get away from the short dresses.”

Freeman was speaking as the Produced By conference, an annual event organised by the Producers Guild of America, and was sitting alongside McCreary, who did not visibly react to his comments.



McCreary, a computer scientist and veteran feature producer, is the co-founder of Revelations Entertainment, which she launched with Freeman in 1996. The company was behind high-profile Freeman projects such as the 2001 psychological horror Along Came a Spider and 2009’s Invictus, in which the actor played Nelson Mandela, earning a best actor Oscar nomination.

In response to Freeman’s comments, the panel’s moderator Mark Gordon, said, “He’s not a pig, I promise,” before adding, “Maybe he is.” When told by Gordon that his musings on McCreary’s dress sense could be considered sexist, Freeman said “Sexist? Yeah, but I’m not misogynistic.”

The panel talk then turned to whether men or women make better producers. McCreary led the conversation, saying that women were more suited to the role. “I think inherently – I might be sexist – my construct is family, bringing people together,” she said. “I’m not saying men aren’t that way.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 9^th, 2016.

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