Morgan Freeman has accused a TV journalist who claims he sexually harassed her of launching a ‘witch-hunt’ and using him to advance her career.
In a letter issued by his lawyer, the veteran actor alleges entertainment reporter Chloe Melas has run a ‘year-long crusade’ to ruin his life.
The letter was sent to the president of CNN after the US broadcaster ran a report last week claiming Freeman, 80, had harassed eight women.
According to CNN, several women alleged Freeman had made inappropriate remarks, while one claimed he had tried to lift up her skirt.
After initially apologising for ‘unintentionally upsetting’ former colleagues and reporters, Freeman has since accused CNN of publishing a ‘malicious and scandal-mongering hit piece’.
Demanding CNN retract the story, the letter said Miss Melas, 31, had ‘overreacted’ and misunderstood comments Freeman made to her in an interview he and co-stars Michael Caine and Alan Arkin gave last year to promote their film Going In Style.
She has since pursued an ‘unjustified and scandalous vendetta’ against the Oscar-winning actor, it said.
Miss Melas’s story, in which the women accused the star of inappropriate behaviour, was ‘the product of malicious intent, falsehoods, sleight-of-hand, an absence of editorial control and journalistic malpractice’, it added.
Miss Melas claimed that Freeman had made inappropriate comments towards her, including call her ‘ripe’ while staring at her body. She was heavily pregnant at the time and decided to investigate his past behaviour towards other women.
Freeman’s lawyer suggested Miss Melas would not have had the same ‘unjustified overreaction’ if Freeman’s two white co-stars had made similar comments.
His letter said her version of the interview was untrue and one of the remarks she took exception to had been made to Caine, not about her.
CNN said it had spoken to 16 people who witnessed Freeman behaving inappropriately, eight of whom claimed to have been victims.
A woman who worked on his 2012 film Now You See Me told how he made constant remarks about her figure.
An unnamed production assistant in her early 20s claims she was harassed by Freeman on the set of Going In Style. She said Freeman touched her almost every day, including lifting up her skirt and asking if she was wearing underwear.
Lawyer Robert Schwartz’s letter to CNN says of the reporter’s claims: ‘One cannot know if that was the product of Ms Melas having misheard what Mr Freeman said, her runaway self-centeredness, or her search for a sexual harassment perpetrator to “expose” so that she could grab attention and advance her career.
‘However, there is substantial evidence that Ms Melas imagined an incident, or exaggerated a non-malicious remark wildly out of proportion to reality, to give her a basis to go after Mr Freeman.
‘After getting CNN’s permission to pursue an unjustified and scandalous vendetta against Mr Freeman, Ms Melas cast her net far and wide.’ The letter accused Miss Melas of ‘gloating’ and ‘playing a game’ to ruin the actor’s career.
It also claimed at least two of the alleged victims said CNN misreported their comments. One person who claimed to have been contacted by Miss Melas said the journalist was ‘cold-calling everyone who had ever worked’ with Freeman in an attempt to ‘bait’ people into making similar accusations. CNN said: ‘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.
‘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.’
© Daily Mail
