Morgan Freeman’s lawyer is demanding that CNN apologize over its story accusing the actor of sexual misconduct against eight women – and slammed the reporting as an “unjustified and scandalous vendetta” against the Oscar winner.
In a lengthy letter to CNN President Jeff Zucker, lawyer Robert Schwartz accused the network of “malicious intent, falsehoods, slight-of-hand [sic], an absence of editorial control, and journalistic malpractice,” Deadline reported.
Schwartz picked apart the details in CNN’s May 24 report of allegations from several women who said they were sexually harassed by the 80-year-old on movie sets and during interviews.
He claimed one of the article’s authors, Chloe Melas, “baited and prodded” other women to come forward to “confirm her bias against him.”
“Thus, no reader of the article can have any confidence that any of the anonymous sources, which make up the balance of CNN’s article, can be relied upon at all,” Schwartz wrote.
Melas was six months pregnant when she interviewed Freeman during the release of “Going In Style.”
She claims Freeman told her, “You are ripe” and “Boy, do I wish I was there.”
Schwartz also pointed out that one of the women quoted in the story, Tyra Martin, has since said CNN misrepresented her statements.
Martin, an entertainment producer at Chicago’s WGN-TV who has spent hours interviewing Freeman at press junkets, said the actor frequently joked and flirted with her.
“When I stood up, I pulled my skirt part of my dress down, and he did say, ‘Oh, don’t pull it down now,’ ” Martin said. “That gave me pause, but I never felt uncomfortable.”
Martin later clarified to TMZ that she wasn’t accusing Freeman of sexual harassment.
“Hey, still getting a lot of nasty messages from people who think I AM one of the accusers. I’m not, never was,” she said. “CNN totally misrepresented the video and took my remarks out of context.”
Freeman has been “defamed” by the story, and CNN “has inflicted serious injury on his reputation and career,” Schwartz said.
The lawyer called on the network to apologize and retract portions of its story involving Lori McCreary, Freeman’s business partner of more than two decades.
CNN said McCreary witnessed one alleged incident and was also the target of some of the actor’s demeaning comments. Schwartz said McCreary insists that she never was harassed by Freeman nor did she witness any harassment.
The network issued a statement Tuesday saying it’s sticking by its story.
“The unfounded accusations made by Mr. Freeman’s lawyer are disappointing and are difficult to reconcile with Mr. Freeman’s own public statements in the aftermath of the story,” the statement said. “CNN stands by its reporting and will respond forcefully to any attempt by Mr. Freeman or his representatives to intimidate us from covering this important public issue.”
As a result of CNN’s report, Freeman has lost out on a marketing campaign with Visa, and the city of Vancouver opted not to go with him as the voice of its public transportation system, Variety reported.
SAG-AFTRA may also revoke the lifetime achievement award it gave him earlier this year.
“The damage CNN has inflicted is real. And given Mr. Freeman’s career and many motion picture and television commitments, it is substantial,” Schwartz wrote.
The “Million Dollar Baby” star has issued two statements in the wake of the allegations, saying his actions were meant to be “light-hearted and humorous.”
“All victims of assault and harassment deserve to be heard. And we need to listen to them,” he said. “But it is not right to equate horrific incidents of sexual assault with misplaced compliments or humor.”