One of Hollywood's most loved veterans, Morgan Freeman, has been forced to apologise as he finds himself at the centre of a sexual harassment storm where at least eight women have come forward and claimed to have been victims of his inappropriate behaviour while working with him.

Morgan Freeman at the Screen Actors Guild AwardsMorgan Freeman at the Screen Actors Guild Awards

In a recent report published by CNN, several female members of film production staff, journalists and employees at Revelations Entertainment have revealed a string of incidents regarding sexual misconduct at the hands of the 80-year-old star, forcing him to release a statement of regret about the alleged behaviour.

One production assistant on the set of 'Going In Style' in 2015 accused him of unwanted touching and making inappropriate comments about her body, for example.

'He kept trying to lift up my skirt and asking if I was wearing underwear', she told CNN. 'Alan [Arkin] made a comment telling him to stop. Morgan got freaked out and didn't know what to say.'

Other allegations cite much the same sort of behaviour. A senior member of the production team on 'Now You See Me' in 2012 revealed that she and her fellow female employees actually had to watch how what they wore around him.

'He did comment on our bodies', she said. '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.'

Eight women in total claimed to CNN that they were victims of sexual harassment or inappropriate behaviour by Freeman, though none of them made any complaints against him at the time out of fear for their jobs. Others claimed to have witnessed similar behaviour but not experienced it, though many people that CNN reached out to insisted that they never noticed anything untoward while working alongside the actor.

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'Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows I am not someone who would intentionally offend or knowingly make anyone feel uneasy', Freeman said in a statement. 'I apologize to anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected - that was never my intent.'