Actor Morgan Freeman spoke out again in the wake of sexual harassment allegations against him, saying Friday that he was “devastated” by the turn of events.
Several women accused the Oscar winner of inappropriate behavior, including lewd comments and unwanted touching, according to a CNN investigation.
“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,” Morgan said in a statement sent to media, according to outlets. “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.”
Morgan Freeman has been accused of sexual harassment by several women. (Photo: Presley Ann via Getty Images)
Credit card company Visa and Vancouver transportation company TransLink (in a Visa promotion) suspended campaigns featuring Freeman after the accusations surfaced.
In the CNN report, one unidentified woman who worked on the film “Going in Style” in 2015 accused Freeman of repeatedly trying to lift up her skirt and asking her if she was wearing underwear.
Freeman initially apologized for unintentionally making anyone feel uncomfortable or disrespected and reiterated those sentiments in part of his statement on Friday.
But, he added, “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.”
A spokesman for Freeman told HuffPost on Saturday: “We have no further comments to make at this time.”
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