Morgan Freeman’s attorney, Robert M. Schwartz issued a letter addressed to Jeff Zucker, the president of CNN, accusing them of defamation, reports Yahoo! Entertainment News.
“CNN has inflicted serious injury on his reputation and career,” the letter states. “At a minimum, CNN immediately needs to issue a retraction and apologize to Mr. Freeman through the same channels, and with the same level of attention, that is used to unjustly attack him.”
In response, CNN stated the network stands 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. 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.”
The controversy arose last week when eight women claimed they were sexually harassed by Morgan Freeman and that his inappropriate behavior involved “unwanted touching.” Freeman has denied the allegations and apologized (twice), reports Yahoo! Entertainment News.
“Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows I am not someone who would intentionally offend or knowingly make anyone feel uneasy,” the actor stated on Thursday. “I apologize to anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected — that was never my intent.”
Another statement issued by Freeman on Friday read, “I am devastated that 80 years of my life is at risk of being undermined, in the blink of an eye, by Thursday’s media reports. All victims of assault and harassment deserve to be heard. And we need to listen to them. But it is not right to equate horrific incidents of sexual assault with misplaced compliments or humor.”
He added, “But I also want to be clear: I did not create unsafe work environments. I did not assault women. I did not offer employment or advancement in exchange for sex. Any suggestion that I did so is completely false.”
