Hollywood actor, Morgan Freeman, has a personal relationship with South Africa. He has visited the country often and was even cast to play Nelson Mandela in the 2009 movie Invictus. During a visit to Khayelitsha in Cape Town, he spent 67 minutes on Mandela Day erecting a fence around the SACLA building – and spoke of his love for our country and deep respect for Mandela.
On Thursday, Freeman became the latest actor to be accused of sexual harassment. CNN broke the story in which at least eight women have come forward accusing Freeman of inappropriate behaviour or harassment while on movie sets, and at events.
CNN has reported that 16 women – eight who claim to be victims and the other eight who claim to have witnessed the harrassment – have spoken to them. Other sources have denied seeing such behaviour. A production assistant accused Freeman of harassing her for months during the filming of Going in Style. She said the 80-year-old touched her repeatedly, even tried to lift her skirt and asked if she was wearing underwear.
Freeman released a statement two hours after the story made headlines, apologising 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.
He is the latest Hollywood star accused of sexual misconduct, allegations of rape and other incidents were also leveled against producer Harvey Weinstein, Dustin Hoffman, Charlie Sheen and Bill Cosby. This also led to the start of the #MeToo campaign against sexual harassment.
WATCH: A video from Entertainment Tonight where he makes inappropriate comments to journalists.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRg0eXw3ZC0
It should shock me how many men (specifically black men) refuse to believe the victims just because it’s Morgan Freeman like he’s somehow untouchable because he played God https://t.co/v3VD1JiEIs
— Lucy Liu Stan Account (@AndiSachs) May 25, 2018
Picture: Twitter