Mr. Freeman has, at least until now, been one of the most revered actors of the modern film era. He won an Oscar for best supporting actor in 2005 for his role in “Million Dollar Baby” and has been nominated for four other Academy Awards. He is often cast as a grandfatherly figure of wisdom and decency and has been referred to as having a “voice of God,” one heard in numerous voice-over roles and commercials.

Just this week, the Vancouver transit system said that it would use Mr. Freeman’s voice in some announcements. On Thursday, the transit system said it would pause the project in light of the accusations.

Some of the inappropriate behavior reported by CNN took place at Revelations Entertainment, the production company Mr. Freeman founded along with the producer Lori McCreary two decades ago, and where staff members described the work environment as toxic for women. According to CNN, one manager said that Mr. Freeman would “come over to my desk to say hi, and he’d just stand there and stare at me. He would stare at my breasts.”

Ms. McCreary would make snide remarks to women who could not stay late because they had to go home to their families, CNN reported, citing two former senior-level employees of the company. Ms. McCreary, who is co-president of the Producers Guild of America, did not respond to a request for comment.

Most of the women spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity and said they had not complained about Mr. Freeman’s behavior because they feared for their jobs. Ms. Melas reported her own experience to CNN’s human resources department. It, in turn, brought the complaint to the attention of Warner Bros., which produced and distributed the film and, like CNN, is a division of Time Warner Inc.

According to CNN, Warner Bros. told Ms. Melas that it could not corroborate her account because, other than the comment caught on camera, it could not find Warner employees who had witnessed the other inappropriate remarks she said Mr. Freeman had made. Warner Bros. declined to comment on Thursday.