Morgan Freeman, 80, is seen on May 22, 2018. He apologized to the women on Thursday and said it was 'never his intent' to make anyone feel 'uncomfortable or disrespected'

Morgan Freeman has apologized after being accused of widespread sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior, saying that he never intended to make 'anyone feel disrespected or uncomfortable'.

In a statement on Thursday morning, the 80-year-old told DailyMail.com: '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.'

It came after a damning piece was published by CNN detailing allegations of misconduct by eight different women.

As a result of the allegations, Freeman was dropped as the voice of Vancouver Public Transport.

'In light of information we’ve learned this morning of allegations regarding actor Morgan Freeman, TransLink has decided to pause his voice announcements as part of a VISA ad campaign on our transit system,'the organization said.

The Screen Actors Guild is also considering stripping him of the lifetime achievement award he won in January.

Its spokesman told TMZ: '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 allegations include the claims a young production assistant who alleges Freeman, 80, tried to lift up her skirt repeatedly in 2015.

Only one woman who claims to have been mistreated by him was named. She is Chloe Melas, the CNN reporter who wrote the article who claims Freeman called her 'ripe' and told her: 'Boy I want to be there' as she interviewed him while six months pregnant in 2017.

Other women said he behaved like a 'creepy uncle' at Revelations Entertainment, his production company, and that his unwanted glances and treatment of them forced them to stop wearing skirts or dresses in the office.

The production assistant who claims he tried to lift up her skirt repeatedly to see if she was wearing underwear said the incident happened in 2015 on the set of Going In Style.

She alleged that Alan Arkin, Freeman's co-star in the movie, was there and intervened.

MORGAN FREEMAN'S APOLOGY '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.' Advertisement

She said: '[He] kept trying to lift up my skirt and asking if I was wearing underwear.

'Alan [Arkin] made a comment telling him to stop. Morgan got freaked out and didn't know what to say.'

The woman was in her early 20s and Freeman was 78 at the time.

Another, who was described as a senior member of production staff who worked with him on Now You See Me in 2012, claimed it was common knowledge that he 'harassed' females on set.

'He did comment on our bodies... We knew that if he was coming by ... not to wear any top that would show our breasts, not to wear anything that would show our bottoms, meaning not wearing clothes that [were] fitted,' she said.

Another former staffer there alleged that when she met him for the first time on the set of his series Through The Wormhole, which began in 2010, he 'looked her up and down and asked: "How do you feel about sexual harassment?'"

CNN reporter Chloe Melas, who wrote the expose, claims Freeman spoke inappropriately to her when she was six months pregnant in 2017 by saying she was 'ripe' and remarking: 'Boy would I like to be there'. She is pictured around the same time (left) and in September 2016 (right)

Rose McGowan tweeted her reaction to the revelations against Freeman on Thursday afternoon

She said: 'I was stunned. This is the person that I worked for, this is his company, I didn't expect it at all... I said timidly, "I love it" in a sarcastic way hoping to make light of the situation because I was so confused and then he turned to the guys on the crew... and said, "See guys, this is how you do it.'"

SAG is now considering stripping Freeman of the lifetime achievement award he won in January (pictured)

Another woman who worked as a manager at Revelations claimed Freeman would regularly stop by her desk to 'stare at her breasts'.

'If I ever passed him he would stare at me in an awkward way, would look me up and down sometimes stopping and just staring.

'One time he stopped, looked me up and down as I walked into a room of people, and everyone burst out laughing. And I literally froze feeling very uncomfortable and one of the people in the office said, "Don't worry, that's just Morgan."'

Many of the women say his treatment of them or behavior around them prompted them to dress differently in a bid to avoid remarks or unwanted glances from him.

'That sort of interaction was when I stopped wearing a skirt around the office when he was there.

'I can't say it was an accident that I'd be wearing a potato sack and a ponytail on certain days when he was there and do my best to avoid him when he was in the office,' the manager said.

Male staffers witnessed the alleged misconduct, according to the report.

One told CNN: 'One time I witnessed Morgan walk up to an intern and start massaging her.

One former staffer claims that while working on the set of Going In Style, Freeman's hit with Michael Caine and Alan Arkin, Freeman tried repeatedly to lift up her skirt to see if she was wearing underwear

According to the assistant, who was in her 20s at the time, Arkin (left) intervened and made Freeman uncomfortable by telling him to stop

'The intern got visibly red and wiggled out of his grasp, it was awkward.' Others said they saw him asking young female staffers to 'twirl' like the late Fox chairman Roger Ailes is also alleged to have done to reporters including Megyn Kelly.

One alleged incident took place at Freeman's 70th birthday party in 2008 when he allegedly stood an 'inch' away from female staffers faces after having them stand in a circle so that he could look them up and down.

'[He] kept trying to lift up my skirt and asking if I was wearing underwear. Alan [Arkin] made a comment telling him to stop. Morgan got freaked out and didn't know what to say.' Junior production assistant who alleges misconduct in 2015 on set of Going In Style

One person who was there described it as follows: '[Freeman would] stand maybe within an inch of their face and just look them up and down and not say anything, and then would move on to the next woman and he'd stand like within an inch of their face and look them up and down and not say anything, and it was really, really strange.

'It was really weird and he did it to every woman but of course he didn't do it to any of the men. He didn't speak to any of the men.'

The women had been asked to tell him what they did at the company beforehand, they added.

One of the writers for the hit show Madam Secretary who attended the party said: 'We saw Morgan go around to the girls in the circle and get really close to their faces, he didn't do it to the men. I don't know what he said but we all thought it was strange and couldn't wait to get the hell out of there. Absolutely there were sexual undertones to it.'

That writer joked that when the #MeToo movement began, staff referred to that incident and joked that 'Morgan would be next.'

Another former staffer claims she witnessed Freeman behaving inappropriately on the set of The Dark Knight Rises in 2012 but that she felt she could not report it because of who he was

One woman said that at a party to promote a recent film, he would not stop staring at her breasts.

She claimed she told him: 'My eyes are up here'. When they took a group photograph afterwards, she alleged that he 'pressed' himself against her.

Male staffers also claimed to have witnessed what they described as shocking remarks he made about female colleagues.

'[He'd say] things like, "I'd like to have an hour with her" or make vulgar and sexual comments about women.

'He would be verbally inappropriate and it was just shocking. You're more shocked than anything because it's hard to have the wherewithal to say to him, "That's inappropriate."

'You're just like "whoa." It's hard because on any set he is the most powerful person on it. It's weird because you just don't expect it from Morgan Freeman, someone who you respect,' said one man.

He'd say things like, "I'd like to have an hour with her" or make vulgar and sexual comments about women Male staffer from Revelations Entertainment

Another, who worked with him on The Dark Knight Rises, said: 'Morgan did things in a way that an older more established person can get away with because they have that power.

'They can't be replaced, but you can be replaced very easily, that's just kind of the dynamic on set. PA's can be replaced, grips can be replaced, electricians can be replaced, but the actors -- once they're in, they're in.

'Had it been somebody else on the crew... I would feel comfortable reporting them because I wouldn't feel like my job would be in danger by reporting them, but if you report somebody like Morgan Freeman that the movie would lose a lot of money by replacing them or getting them in trouble, then you're the trouble maker and you'll get fired because you're just a PA.'

Entertainment journalists, including Chloe Melas, one of the authors of the article, also allege misconduct by Freeman.

Melas claims that Freeman told her he wanted to 'be there' while gesturing towards her baby bump and looking her up and down as she interviewed him while she was six-months pregnant. He was promoting Going In Style at the time. The film was released last year.

She claims he also called her 'ripe' and that she complained to her bosses about it at the time but the issue became stale when HR staff at Time Warner, which owns CNN and Warner Bros (the studio behind the film Freeman was promoting at the time) cited lack of proof of the incident.

Lori McReary, the co-founder of Freeman's production company Revelations Entertainment, was apparently 'devastated' by comments he made about her short skirts and dresses during joint appearance at the Produced By conference in 2016 (above). Publicly, she said nothing to condemn them

One incident was allegedly witnessed by Lori McCreary, his co-founder at Revelations Entertainment.

She is also named as the victim of another incident when Freeman allegedly spoke down to her but is also blamed for creating a 'toxic' environment at the company.

Some of the women who alleged misconduct said they were reluctant to report it because of Freeman's fame and long-standing popularity in the industry. He is pictured on the set of The Shawshank Redemption in 1993, before the alleged misconduct took place

In 2016, she was on stage with Freeman at a Produced By event where, in front of 400 people, he spoke about her dress length and how it detracted from his first impressions of her professionally when they founded Revelations.

Freeman was slammed for the remarks at the time and defended them during an appearance on Today with Savannah Guthrie afterwards.

Publicly, McReary said nothing to condemn the comments but according to sources by CNN, she was upset by them.

'I tried to console her and she was clearly upset and I think she was surprised and found it hurtful and embarrassing.

'She was devastated.'

Other sources said that while McReary publicly champions workplace equality, she is dismissive and derogatory to female employees who have children and is regularly heard complaining that anyone who has a family is not able to balance as heavy a workload as their single peers.

Such allegations were investigated by The Producers Guild of America, of which McReary is the president, and they were dismissed due to lack of evidence.

The PGA told CNN: 'The Producers Guild of America is an Equal Opportunity Employer that does not question or consider marital or parental status in its hiring practices.

'As soon as CNN notified us about the allegation, we investigated the matter and have found that it has no merit. Lori McCreary is an outstanding PGA President.

'In all of her work with the Guild, she has been a consistent, vocal, and proactive advocate for women and all who are underrepresented in our community.'

Freeman is pictured with his late , adopted granddaughter E'Dena Hines. E'Dena was murdered by her boyfriend in 2013. During her killer's recent trial, it was claimed that she had confided in him while she was alive that she and Freeman had a sexual relationship. The actor has since said he had 'no idea' what she may have been referring to

Most of the alleged misconduct took place after Freeman separated from his second wife, Myrna Colley-Lee, in 2010. He was married to his first wife Jeanette Bradshaw between 1969 and 1979.

His personal and family life were brought back into the spotlight recently during the murder trial of his adopted granddaughter E'Dena Hines killer.

Hines was stabbed to death in Manhattan in 2013 by her boyfriend Lamar Davenport.

During his trial, the court heard about a text message she allegedly sent Davenport before her death which described 'grandpa feelings' and 'submissive love'.

Davenport's lawyers claimed that she had confided in him that Freeman and her had a sexual relationship.

The point of bringing the text messages into the courtroom was to illustrate her troubled relationship with her boyfriend who denied murdering her.

Davenport admitted killing her but said it was not his fault because he was in an induced psychosis. He was convicted of 2nd degree manslaughter and was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.

When he was asked about it in April as he made his way to his car, Freeman said: 'I don't know what you are talking about'.

He legally adopted Hines' mother when she was a child after marrying her mother, Myrna Colley-Lee, in 1969.

He considered E'Dena a blood relative and brought her with him to awards ceremonies on his arm.