Freeman loses advert job
MORGAN Freeman’s voice-over has been removed from Canadian public transport adverts after the actor was accused of sexual harassment.
The Oscar-winning star has been accused of harassment or inappropriate behaviour by eight women.
Freeman has now been pulled from Visa adverts featuring his voice on Vancouver’s SkyTrain line. TransLink, the city’s transportation agency, said it had decided to pause his voice announcements in light of the allegations against the actor.
Jillian Drews, the agency’s spokesman, said Visa would make the final decision on whether Freeman continued voicing the adverts.
The Screen Actors Guild, the industry union, is considered stripping the veteran actor of his lifetime achievement award. “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 union said in a statement.
“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.”
The allegations against the 80year-old actor were made as part of an investigation by CNN, and the alleged victims included one of the television network’s own journalists.
Two other journalists have also made claims, along with women who had worked on film sets with him, and at his production company. In a statement, Freeman said: “Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows I am not someone who would intentionally offend or knowingly make anyone feel uneasy. I apologise to anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected,” he said. —