The film awards season is over and Cannes has been handed back to wealthy holiday-makers, yet the #MeToo movement shows no signs of slowing down. Morgan Freeman is the most recent addition to the ignominious list of film producers, directors and actors who have had accusations of sexual harassment made against them since #MeToo took off in October last year.
Allegations against the 80 year-old Freeman, star of The Shawshank Redemption, emerged last week on the day before Harvey Weinstein handed himself into police in New York on charges of rape. The charges against Weinstein are serious; he should stand trial and, if found guilty, face a lengthy prison sentence. Yet the #MeToo label puts Freeman and Weinstein into the same category: both have abused their power in order to sexually harass women. We’re asked to see their crimes as comparable; the behaviour of both men showing the abuse women in the film industry routinely experience.
Eight women have so far come forward with accusations against Freeman.
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