Oscar winner and veteran actor Morgan Freeman has been accused of 'inappropriate behaviour and harassment' by women, reports CNN.
A young production assistant, who, back in 2015, started work on "Going In Style," a bank heist comedy starring Morgan Freeman, alleged that Freeman subjected her to unwanted touching and comments about her figure and clothing on a near-daily basis.
Freeman would rest his hand on her lower back or rub her lower back, she added.
In all, 16 people spoke to CNN about Freeman as part of the investigation; eight witnesses and eight who claimed to be the victims.
The Oscar winning actor "kept trying to lift up my skirt and asking if I was wearing underwear," she claims.
A senior member of the production staff of the movie Now You See Me in 2012 said Freeman "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."
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The-80-year-old, won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for 2004's "Million Dollar Baby," and has earned four other Oscar nominations.
CNN's investigation into Freeman's behavior came after the news company's own entertainment reporter Chloe Melas - who co-authored the article - claimed to have experienced harassment from the Oscar winner during a press junket interview for Going In Style, reports the Hollywood Reporter.
According to the report, Melas, who was six months pregnant at the time of the interview, alleged that, Freeman repeated a variation of, "I wish I was there." She also purported that he told her, "You are ripe."
Later, Melas reported the incident to CNN HR, who then reached out to the HR department at Warner Bros., distributor of the film. (Both CNN and Warner Bros. are owned by Time Warner.)
Warner Bros confirmed to CNN that what Melas said was accurate but declined further comment.
A former employee of Freeman's Revelations production company said the actor made an inappropriate comment to her on set of his science documentary TV series Through the Wormhole, the report said.
Another former female Revelations employee said Freeman 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."
A male former employee likened the eighty-year-old Freeman's behavior to that of a "creepy uncle."
According to the report, Freeman's Revelations co-founder Lori McCreary was on the receiving end of controversial commentary. Freeman, in 2016, commented about McCreary's outfit in front of 400 people at a Produced By conference, saying, "She had on a dress cut to here."
He said in front of McCreary, who was on the panel, "She wants to be thought of as serious. But you can't get away from the short dresses."
CNN's report dwells upon Freeman's pattern," The allegations against Freeman are not about things that happened in private; they are about things that allegedly happened in public, in front of witnesses -- even in front of cameras. Before #MeToo, many men in the industry could behave without fear of consequences, because many times when a powerful man did so, it was the victim who suffered repercussions."
At a party for the show, Madame Secretary, one writer said that female staffers were asked to assemble in a circle, after which, "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.
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