SAG-AFTRA is considering taking “corrective actions” as a result of the sexual harassment allegations against Morgan Freeman first reported Thursday. Those corrective actions reportedly include possibly rescinding the Lifetime Achievement Award given to him earlier this year.
A spokesperson for the performers union told The Hollywood Reporter that it’s the union’s responsibility to believe the “courageous voices” of the accusers.
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“These are compelling and devastating allegations which are absolutely contrary to all the steps that we are taking to [ensure] a safe work environment for the professionals in this industry,” the SAG-AFTRA spokesperson said. “Any accused person has the right to due process, but it is our starting point to believe the courageous voices who come forward to report incidents of harassment.”
“Given Mr. Freeman recently received one of our union’s most prestigious honors recognizing his body of work, we are therefore reviewing what corrective actions may be warranted at this time,” the statement concluded.
Freeman apologized for his actions in a statement to THR, telling the publication that “anyone who knows me or has worked with knows I am not someone who would intentionally offend or knowingly make anyone feel uneasy.”
The allegations came in a report from CNN, which cited eight different women and eight additional witnesses, who stated that Freeman allegedly tried to lift a woman’s skirt, massaged and touched female employees and commented inappropriately on women’s appearances and pregnancy.
The SAG-AFTRA’s sexual harassment code of conduct, adopted in February, instructs its 160,000 members on how to deal with the issue of harassment. It prohibits “unwelcome verbal, visual or physical conduct of a sexual nature that is severe or pervasive and which creates a hostile, offensive or intimidating work environment.” In April, it called for an end to the practice of holding professional meetings in private hotel rooms or residences.
Freeman won the union’s Lifetime Achievement Award in January, but this week’s allegations against him do not mark the first time his name has made headlines for sexist comments.
In 2016, Freeman told an audience of 400 at an industry conference that producing partner Lori McCreary, a former tech entrepreneur, “wants to be thought of as serious, but you can’t get away from the short dresses.” He brought up her appearance several more times throughout his speech, even admitting that he was “sexist” — “but not misogynistic,” according to THR.
Freeman was the 54th recipient of the SAG Lifetime Achievement Award, presented Jan. 21 during the SAG Awards by Rita Moreno. The award is given annually to an actor who fosters the “finest ideals of the acting profession.”
SAG’s Lifetime Achievement Award is not the first Freeman has won. He picked up the Cecil B. DeMille Award from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at the 2012 Golden Globes, and also has lifetime achievement awards from several film festivals and received the Favorite Movie Icon Award in 2012 from the People’s Choice Awards.
