The name Morgan Freeman strikes one as a completely innocuous name. The average person wouldn’t expect Freeman to be a predator. The average person would perceive Freeman as a legend.
Freeman established himself as a man with a magical voice to the public through his films. But all of that has changed with recent allegations against Freeman.
With the release of a recent CNN article, Freeman has been accused of sexual misconduct by eight women.
The CNN article was written by reporters An Phung and Chloe Melas. 16 people spoke to Phung and Melas. Together all 16 people described a pattern of harassment and inappropriate behavior by Freeman on set.
The Report
Melas herself was subjected to inappropriate behavior by Freeman in a past encounter with him. A year ago, Melas interviewed Freeman at a press junket for his film “Going in Style.” Melas had been six months pregnant at the time.
According to Melas, Freeman in a room full of people, which included co-stars Arkin and Caine, shook Melas’ hand, and did not let go while looking Melas up and down and saying more than once a variation of , “I wish I was there.”
He also said “you are ripe.”
Cameras were on and recording when Freeman said “Boy, do I wish I was there.” As according to common practice, Melas had been the only CNN employee there at the time.
Seven of these allegations came out from Freeman’s production company, Revelations. Allegedly one incident was witnessed by Lori McCreary, Freeman’s co-founder. One person alleged that McCreary made a discriminatory remark regarding a female candidate for a job at the Producers Guild of America, where McCreary is the co-President.
This isn’t the first time Freeman has come under controversy for questionable behavior. Freeman allegedly had a sexual relationship with his step-granddaughter, E’Dena Hines, when she was a teenager.
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The Aftermath
Freeman recently came out with an apology addressing the situation.
BBC reported that Freeman apologized to “anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected”.
“Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows I am not someone who would intentionally offend or knowingly make anyone feel uneasy,” he said in a statement.
Making women feel uncomfortable was “never my intent”, he said.
Freeman is the latest well-known Hollywood figure to have been accused of sexual misconduct after the initial development of the #metoo campaign.
Before we jump to the assumption that Freeman’s accusers are liars, we must remember not every experience with an individual is unanimous. It is perfectly possible for an individual who has had a positive impact on you to be a predator to another individual.
As humans, we have a moral responsibility to take every accusation of sexual misconduct seriously. If not, we run the risk of allowing rape culture to merely continue to run rampant. In addition, we run the risk of invalidating the experiences of survivors and making it harder for people to come out with their experiences.
Visa has dropped Freeman, ending their former long standing relationship.
According to EurWeb, a VISA spokesperson said: “We are aware of the allegations that have been made against Mr. Freeman. At this point, Visa will be suspending our marketing in which the actor is featured.”
This cut off has come after Vancouver based transportation system, TransLink backed away as well. Freeman’s voice over had been featured in a VISA ad campaign to promote TransLink’s VISA credit card and mobile payments on its buses and at its automated rapid transit system SkyTrain.
A TransLink Spokesperson stated:
“In light of information we’ve learned through news stories this morning of serious allegations against actor Morgan Freeman, TransLink has decided to pause his voice announcements as part of a VISA ad campaign on the transit system,”
As of now, SAG is reconsidering his lifetime achievement award.
EurWeb reported that Freeman received the 54th lifetime achievement award, which was presented to him on Jan. 21 during the SAG Awards by Rita Moreno.
The award is annually given to an actor who fosters “the finest ideals of the acting profession.”
A spokesperson for SAG-AFTRA stated:
“These are compelling and devastating allegations which are absolutely contrary to all the steps that we are taking to insure a safe work environment for the professionals in this industry. Any accused person has the right to due process, but it is our starting point to believe the courageous voices who come forward to report incidents of harassment. Given Mr. Freeman recently received one of our union’s most prestigious honors recognizing his body of work, we are therefore reviewing what corrective actions may be warranted at this time.”
