VIDEO: MORGAN FREEMAN ACCUSED OF BEING A SEXUAL PREDATOR

Morgan Freeman has been accused of sexual harassment by a young production assistant who was hired in 2015 to work on the set of "Going In Style", a bank heist comedy starring Freeman, Michael Caine and Alan Arkin.

The production assistant recounted how the position slowly turned into experiencing months of sexual harassment including Freeman touching her against her will and making inappropriate comments about her body. She claimed that Freeman would rest his hand on her lower back or rub her lower back, she said in one particular instance Freeman "kept trying to lift up my skirt and asking if I was wearing underwear." He never successfully lifted her skirt, she said. He would touch it and try to lift it, she would move away, and then he'd try again. Eventually, she said, "Alan [Arkin] made a comment telling him to stop. Morgan got freaked out and didn't know what to say."

Other sources reported to CNN that a senior member of the production staff of the movie "Now You See Me" in 2012 said Freeman sexually harassed her and her female assistant on numerous occasions by making comments about their bodies. "He did comment on our bodies... We knew that if he was coming by ... not to wear any top that would show our breasts, not to wear anything that would show our bottoms, meaning not wearing clothes that [were] fitted," she said.

This came as a surprise to many fans as Freeman is one of the biggest Hollywood stars with a career that spans over 50 years. His roles in "Driving Miss Daisy" and "Shawshank Redemption" in the late 1980s and early 1990s shot him to fame. He won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for 2004's "Million Dollar Baby," and went on to earn four other Oscar nominations. His voiceover work is another claim to fame, including his narration for the Academy Award-winning documentaries "The Long Way Home" and "March of the Penguins".

Eight people have come forward so far claiming that they have been victims of harassment or inappropriate behaviour by Freeman. Eight other people have come forward admitting that they had witnessed this behaviour while Freeman was promoting his movies and at his production company Revelations Entertainment. The environment at Revelations Entertainment has been described by seven people making allegations of harassment or inappropriate behaviour by Freeman in the company, with one incident allegedly witnessed by Lori McCreary, Freeman's co-founder in the enterprise. In another incident, she was the target of derogatory comments made by Freeman in a public setting.

Other people who have worked in production on set with Freeman have described him as repeatedly behaving in ways that made women feel uncomfortable at work. Three said he made public comments about women's clothing or bodies. But each of them said they didn't report Freeman's behaviour, with most saying it was because they feared for their jobs.

These women said that they attempted to avoid the inappropriate behaviour by changing the way they dressed when Freeman was around. CNN also attempted to interview other people who had worked with Freeman, however, they said that they had not witnessed any inappropriate behaviour by him, commending him on professional behaviour in the office and on set. Many people who were contacted by CNN did not want to comment on the issue or to be mentioned in any stories or news reports.

CNN also contacted Freeman's spokesperson for a statement to which they replied by asking for a list of accusations that have been made against Freeman, the spokesperson did not reply to any further emails regarding the accusations. Freeman then 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." McCreary was also contacted for a statement on the allegations of her co-worker to which she did not respond.

Several reporters have also come forward, admitting that Freeman had made inappropriate remarks during press events that covered his films. This proves that this inappropriate behaviour has not been limited to the office and movie set, accompanied by journalist, Chloe Melas, who said she was subjected to inappropriate behaviour by Freeman more than a year ago when she interviewed him at a press event for "Going in Style." She said that the incident occurred when she was six months pregnant and that "Freeman, in a room full of people, including his co-stars Arkin and Caine, shook Melas' hand, not letting go while repeatedly looking her up and down and saying more than once a variation of, "I wish I was there". She says he also said to her, "You are ripe." Cameras were on and recording during one of Freeman's remarks to Melas – "Boy, do I wish I was there" – but not for the rest.

"As is common practice with such junkets, Melas was the only CNN employee there at the time," reports CNN. When Melas took the matter to the Human Resources department at Time Warner, she was told that she would not be able to take the matter further as the camera didn't capture the full inappropriate moment and that the other employees hadn't noticed anything.

Revelations Entertainment was created to be a progressive company that gave black actors and women a chance to star in movies such as "Along Came a Spider" and the hit CBS show "Madam Secretary," both of which feature strong female leads. However, employees testify that the environment soon turned toxic and one staff member recounted an incident in which Freeman "looked me up and down," she said, and then asked her, "How do you feel about sexual harassment? I was stunned," she told CNN.

"This is the person that I worked for, this is his company, I didn't expect it at all ... 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 ... and said, 'See guys, this is how you do it.'"

Many employees claimed that McCreary would openly mock and make malicious comments to employees who had to leave work early for family commitments and school functions. According to employees she openly promoted work-life balance, a source said, but she would make "snide" remarks to those who left work early.

It seems the behaviour of powerful males in the entertainment industry is coming from a systematic problem found in the industry itself. Not only did these events happen behind the closed doors of the company, they also happened openly in public and within earshot of other people, some of whom attempted to reprimand Freeman for his behaviour but held the attitude that he was powerful and couldn't be touched, unlike his employees.

Interviews and comments courtesy of CNN.