Some praised Freeman, saying they never witnessed any questionable behavior or that he was a consummate professional on set and in the office. Several other times during this investigation, when a CNN reporter contacted a person who had worked with Freeman to try to ask them if they had seen or been subjected to inappropriate behavior by an actor they had worked with -- not initially even naming the actor they were asking about -- the person would immediately tell them they knew exactly who the reporter had in mind: Morgan Freeman.
Some of those people were sources for this investigation while others declined to comment further or did not want what they said used in this story. The pattern of behavior described by those who spoke with CNN shows another example of the systematic problems that exist in the entertainment industry. 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. CNN reached out to Freeman's spokesperson for comment and then, at his request, emailed him a detailed list of the accusations against Freeman. The spokesperson did not respond to multiple follow-ups by email seeking comment on the accusations.
After this article was published, Freeman released a statement in which he said, "Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows I am not someone who would intentionally offend or knowingly make anyone feel uneasy. I apologize to anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected — that was never my intent. CNN also reached out to a spokesperson for McCreary, and then provided her with a detailed list of accusations regarding Freeman's alleged behavior at Revelations and details of the accusation against her as well as a number of questions for her regarding Freeman's alleged behavior at Revelations and the environment there.
The spokesperson did not respond to multiple follow-ups by email seeking comment. The allegations of inappropriate behavior by Freeman are not limited to the confines of his company or to movie sets. 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. One of the three, CNN entertainment reporter Chloe Melas, the co-author of this article, says she was subjected to inappropriate behavior by Freeman more than a year ago, when she interviewed him at a press junket for "Going in Style.
As is common practice with such junkets, Melas was the only CNN employee there at the time. Afterward, Melas reported what had happened to her supervisor, who instructed her to inform CNN human resources. Melas said she was also told that Warner Bros. HR could not corroborate the account because only one of Freeman's remarks was on video and the Warner Bros. Melas and her supervisor agreed that she would not cover the movie.
Asked for comment, a spokesperson for Warner Bros. A representative for Caine declined to comment. A representative for Arkin said he was not available for comment. After the encounter with Freeman, Melas started making calls to see if other women had experienced anything similar, or whether this was an isolated incident. She soon learned that other women had similar stories -- and so she, and later her co-author, began this months-long reporting process.
Inside Revelations Entertainment. Variety reported last year that Freeman started the company with McCreary because he was frustrated by the lack of choice roles for black actors and because he wanted to reveal the truth about serious issues -- a mission that inspired the name "Revelations. The company's credits include a list of ambitious films about religion, apartheid, astronomy and stem cell research. Six former staffers said they witnessed Freeman's questionable behavior around women, which they said included sexual comments and one said included an incident of unsolicited touching.
One female former staffer said she was the target of sexual comments by Freeman. The female former employee at Revelations told CNN that Freeman was flanked by a group of men on the set of "Through the Wormhole" when she met the actor for the first time. He "looked me up and down," she said, and then asked her, "How do you feel about sexual harassment?
I said timidly, 'I love it' in a sarcastic way hoping to make light of the situation because I was so confused and then he turned to the guys on the crew One woman who was a manager at Revelations told CNN that sometimes 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. And I literally froze feeling very uncomfortable and one of the people in the office said, 'Don't worry, that's just Morgan.
Freeman was not in the office on a daily basis, the former employees said. But when he did show up, he behaved like a "creepy uncle," in the words of a male former employee. Another former employee told CNN she was present when the male former employee told several people about this incident shortly after it occurred.
CNN spoke to two male witnesses who each saw a separate occasion in which Freeman asked women to twirl. One instance occurred at the office, while another happened at an off-site company event. Another incident stood out to people who spoke with CNN who witnessed it.
Two former staffers who were there, and a writer for the show "Madam Secretary" who also attended, each described the scene to CNN. For his 79th birthday, Revelations threw Freeman a party in the office.
According to the sources, roughly 30 people attended the party, some of whom were new to the company and had never met the actor. McCreary was among those in attendance, the sources said. People at the party had to stand in a circle, a former executive at the company who attended the party told CNN, and tell Freeman who they were and what they did.
Then, the former executive said, Freeman went up to women 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.
He didn't speak to any of the men. The writer for "Madam Secretary" who was at the party said, "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. McCreary herself has also been the subject of demeaning comments by Freeman. In front of what was reportedly an audience of people at 's Produced By conference, Freeman described what she was wearing during their first meeting, saying, "She had on a dress cut to here. Freeman stood by his comments when he appeared a few days later on the "Today" show and host Savannah Guthrie said some people were "surprised" by the remarks he made on the panel.
The Hollywood Reporter reported at the time that McCreary "did not visibly react to the comment. Five sources told CNN that there was no formal human resources department at Revelations at the time. There was a rotation of executives who served as the point of contact for HR issues, but former staffers said they did not feel comfortable talking to senior personnel about their workplace grievances.
This prompted some staffers to form a "survivors club" where they gathered to vent about their experiences at Revelations, according to five sources who have been to the gatherings, which take place outside of the office. Yet the former Revelations employee who said Freeman asked her how she felt about sexual harassment also alleged that on a phone call with a member of PGA, McCreary said of a candidate vying for a position at PGA East, "she'll never be able to do a good job, she has a family.
Two former senior level Revelations employees said McCreary would openly mock women who had to leave work early for family commitments and school functions. Morgan Freeman has been accused of sexual and verbal harassment by eight different women. According to CNN , the women, who say Freeman subjected them to inappropriate remarks about their bodies, allege that he harassed them on the set of his films, at his production company Revelations Entertainment and at press junkets.
One woman, who in the summer of worked as a production assistant on the set of the comedy Going in Style, said she experienced months of harassment, claiming the actor touched her inappropriately and frequently commented on her figure and clothing.
Alan Arkin, a co-star on the film, reportedly told Freeman to stop. Another woman, who was part of the production staff on the heist thriller Now You See Me, alleges that Freeman harassed her and an assistant by make crude comments about their bodies.
I apologize to anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected — that was never my intent. The co-author of the report, Chloe Melas, was one of three entertainment reporters to accuse Freeman of behaving inappropriately during encounters with press.
He would stare at my breasts.
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