Morgan Freeman’s Lawyer Asks CNN to Retract Harassment Article

CNN states that it stands by its reporting and will not be intimidated.

Terming the CNN article "journalistic malpractice," actor Morgan Freeman’s lawyer Robert M. Schwartz urged CNN to apologise and rescind the article published on May 24, in which eight women accused Freeman of harassment and inappropriate behaviour.

In a letter to CNN, the attorney alleged that the piece suffers from "malicious intent, falsehoods, sleight-of-hand, an absence of editorial control, and journalistic malpractice."

“The problem with Ms. Melas’ account, which infected everything that she and CNN thereafter did, is that her version of the interview is false. It is based on her imagining that Mr. Freeman had said or done anything to harass her. 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 and cause him the grave harm that CNN’s story has inflicted.”

Robert M. Schwartz

Addressing one of the accusations, where Morgan is charged with unsavoury comments towards a pregnant reporter, the attorney’s statement posits that the author Chloe Melas, provoked the witnesses and the victims. The claim is substantiated by the fact that an internal investigation by Warner Bros., the film's producer, ruled out any wrongdoing.

When the story broke, the Oscar winning actor had issued an apology.

He later said that he did not create "unsafe work environment" and he did not "assault women". "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," added Freeman.

CNN refuses to budge and upholds its stance.

“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.”

CNN spokesperson

Freeman’s lawyer has specifically asked the publication to repudiate the part that accuses McCreary and Freeman of fostering a "toxic" work environment at their production company Revelations Entertainment.

Source: NBC News