PHOTO: THE HOLLYWOOD INTERVIEW
Sixteen people – eight of whom say they were victims – described a range of troubling behaviour by Freeman on production sets or promotional tours.
In a 2016 interview for film London Has Fallen with Entertainment Tonight, the Oscar-winning actor is seen making inappropriate comments to a female journalist.
PHOTO: BBCIn the clip, Freeman asks her if she is married. When she replies "No", he says "Fool around with older guys? I'm just asking..." At the end of the interview, when the journalist shakes Morgan's hand and says, "Pleasure to meet you," the actor replies, "Mine. Look at yourself."
In the second clip, from 2015, Entertainment Tonight correspondent Janet Mock met with Freeman to discuss his film Five Flights Up in which he quickly turns discussion towards Mock's skirt.
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Speaking of her outfit, the actor said, "I don't know how you all manage to do that all the time. You got a dress halfway between your knee and your hips, and you sit down right across from me and cross your legs."
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Mock, a best selling author, TV writer, and transgender activist, expressed, "This interaction is an exhibition of the casual nature at which men in positions of power believe that everything belongs to them, including women’s bodies as they’re merely just trying to do their job."
PHOTO: HOLLYWOOD REPORTERShe also stated that as a young woman of colour, who is a reporter and a fan of popular culture, she was deeply disappointed. " I can't believe that someone who was seen as America's grandfather was susceptible to such disturbing behaviour 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."
One of the most bankable, respected actors in the business, Morgan was honoured with a lifetime achievement award in January that the Screen Actors Guild is now considering withdrawing
He won the best supporting actor Oscar in 2005 for boxing drama Million Dollar Baby and was nominated four other times for Academy Awards.
PHOTO: INDEPENDENTHis other major films include The Shawshank Redemption, Se7en, and Driving Miss Daisy, as well as several Batman movies.
With his deeply resonant voice, Freeman also did the voiceover for an award-winning documentary March of the Penguins.
Freeman was quick to issue an apology after CNN first published its report regarding the harassment claims. He has now issued a second statement regarding accusations of harassment that have been made against him, reported Independent.
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"I am devastated that 80 years of my life is at risk of being undermined, in the blink of an eye." He added, "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 humour."
PHOTO: AFPHe went on to admit that he is someone who feels a need to try to make women – and men – feel appreciated and at ease around him. "As a 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 apologised and will continue to apologise to anyone I might have upset, however unintentionally."
He concluded by stating that he wants to be clear regarding the fact that he 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."
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