Women accuse Morgan Freeman of inappropriate behavior, harassment

[WhiskeyGrinder]

(CNN)A young production assistant thought she had landed the job of her dreams when, in the summer of 2015, she started work on "Going In Style," a bank heist comedy starring Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Alan Arkin.

But the job quickly devolved into several months of harassment, she told CNN. She alleges that Freeman subjected her to unwanted touching and comments about her figure and clothing on a near-daily basis. Freeman would rest his hand on her lower back or rub her lower back, she said.

In one incident, she said, 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."

Freeman's alleged inappropriate behavior was not limited to that one movie set, according to other sources who spoke to CNN. A woman who was a senior member of the production staff of the movie "Now You See Me" in 2012 told CNN that Freeman sexually harassed her and her female assistant on numerous occasions by making comments about their bodies.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/24/entertainment/morgan-freeman-accusations/index.html

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. Kick

[Blue_true]

2. I read the full article. When are some men going to learn that a woman's body is her own.

And isn't something to be leered at, touched against her will, or commented on without her explicit approval (this allows for relationships where both people are engaged and approving).

[mythology]

3. Not soon enough

I did appreciate that in one of the articles it was noted that Alan Arkin told him it was inappropriate. Yes obviously guys should know better and respect a woman's (or anybody else's) no, but it's good to see other men can step up.

[IluvPitties]

4. Power is the key.

An average Joe can't pull that stuff at work without getting fired. These cases have in common one thing: perpetrators are very powerful men who have done this with impunity for decades.

[Blue_true]

5. Their time is up.

That crap no longer flies. I trully long for the day when powerful men mentor young women toward success the very same way that they would do for a man, society will be far better off because of such behavior. I was stunned by a recent poll where a significant number of Americans said that they would never vote to make a woman President, my only wish for people like that is they die as soon as possible.

[mythology]

6. Except far too many women have a story for it to just be very powerful men

Also if random guy does and gets fired it doesn't make the news.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-does-a-typical-sexual-harasser-look-like-we-dont-know/

[IluvPitties]

7. I honestly think this is somewhat less common among regular people

or at least much more under control among the average folks, in the sense that it is much harder to get away with it and much easier to lose the respect of your peers.

[Ms. Toad]

9. Let me guess - your'e not female.

It does have to do with power - but it has far less to do with being powerful than it does with asserting power over others.

I can think of at least a dozen incidents in my life - none of the men were powerful in any traditional sense. And those are only the ones distinctive enough for me to specifically recall (typically involving touching of buttocks, breasts, or worse) - not the background harassment/sexually charged intimidation that occurs on a weekly or so basis (e.g. events equivalent to the standing close and looking me up and down).

The most recent I'm involved in (although it happened to a coworker, not me) was less than a week ago and was extremely clearly a "F*** you - you have no power over me," move. Fortunately, he was wrong, and it will cost him dearly (regardless of the outcome, because of the multiple disciplinary processes it triggered)

You don't hear about the regular guy because - unfortunately - it is far too common to be news and, until the #metoo movement 9 times out of 10 he would get away with it, and the woman is the one who would lose the respect of (male, and occasionally female) peers.

[IluvPitties]

11. Indeed.

I am a male, and can only speak from the perspective of someone who works in a female-dominated environment, which might also explain why I have not seen or experienced what you have.

[Tipperary]

12. Bingo.

I was about to post the exact same thing.

[mythology]

13. Based on what?

If functionally every woman has a story (and virtually every woman I know does), the problem is endemic. It's not just just that 5% of guys are scumbags.

We live in a world where 1 in 3 college guys in the U.S. admit they would do something that qualifies as rape if you ask them without using the word rape.

Nearly one-third of college men admit they might rape a woman if they could get away with it, a new study on campus sexual assault claims. Of those men, however, far fewer will admit this if the word rape is actually used during the course of questioning.

Approximately 32 percent of study participants said that they would have “intentions to force a woman to sexual intercourse” if ‘‘nobody would ever know and there wouldn’t be any consequences.’’ Yet only 13.6 percent admit to having “any intentions to rape a woman” under these same circumstances.

http://www.newsweek.com/campus-rapists-and-semantics-297463

The numbers are worse in other parts of the world.

But also not all sexual harassment is in the workplace or some other place with a structured hierarchy. A lot happens walking down the street. There's realistically no risk of punishment if I were to walk down the street and say "hey baby show me your boobs" or something to that effect. Half of women have that experience.

I had a former coworker who got arrested because he got off playing with himself on public transit. He had no power over the random women he subjected to that. Nearly 15% of women have that experience.

[Tipperary]

8. Very sorry to hear this today. I'm a big fan of Freeman.

It seems like we are never going to get to the end of this.

[Ms. Toad]

10. Yes, I'm sorry to hear about it - but not surprised

I associate the kind of sex-tinged intense stares described here with Morgan Freeman, so it doesn't surprise me that it was not limited to being on stage.