Morgan Freeman has spoken out for the second time after news broke that the award-winning actor was accused of inappropriate behavior, including unwanted touching by several women who've worked closely with him.
"I am devastated that 80 years of my life is at risk of being undermined, in the blink of an eye, by Thursday's media reports,” the longtime actor said in his new statement via Variety. "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 humor. I admit that I am someone who feels a need to try to make women – and men – feel appreciated and at ease around me. 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 apologized Thursday and will continue to apologize to anyone I might have upset, however unintentionally,” he continued. "But I also want to be clear: I 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."
Earlier this week, CNN revealed that they conducted an investigation where 16 people spoke out about the star. One production assistant said that when she worked with Freeman in 2015, he often made comments about her body and clothes, and also touched her inappropriately. The woman also said that the actor tried lifting up her skirt once and asked her about her underwear. However, once co-star Alan Arkin told Freeman to stop, "he got freaked out and didn't know what to say."
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