Morgan Freeman is under fire this morning for having allegedly behaved in a sexually inappropriate, harassing or goading manner with no fewer than eight women. It’s all in a CNN report by Chloe Melas and An Phung, posted just after 8 am Pacific. The eight women were contacted as a result of a “months-long” investigation.

This effort was triggered after Melas herself “was subjected to inappropriate behavior by Freeman more than a year ago, when she interviewed him at a press junket for Going in Style,” according to the article. A complaint was pressed via human resource staffers at CNN and Warner Bros., but the response was minimal. So Melas turned up the heat. Excerpt: “After the encounter with Freeman, Melas started making calls to see if other women had experienced anything similar, or whether this was an isolated incident. She soon learned that other women had similar stories — and so she, and later her co-author, began this months-long reporting process.”

Freeman’s response: “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 apologize to anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected — that was never my intent.”

Morgan Freeman