Harvey Weinstein To Surrender To Police, While Morgan Freeman Latest Hollywood Giant To Be Accused of Sexual Harassment

Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein is expected to surrender to the police in New York on Friday following a months-long investigation into allegations of sexual assault, U.S. media reported.

The New York Times said Weinstein was expected to surrender on Friday morning, citing unnamed law enforcement officials. Weinstein's defense attorney, contacted by AFP, declined to comment Thursday.

Weinstein was facing charges in connection to at least one accuser, former aspiring actress Lucia Evans, who reported that the fallen film producer forced her into oral sex in 2004, the New York Daily News reported. New York police have in the past confirmed an active Weinstein investigation regarding Evans.

Weinstein's penchant for harassing aspiring stars – American and international – was revealed by reports in The New York Times and New Yorker magazine last year, which sparked a sexual harassment movement - #MeToo across the United States and the world. More than 100 women have since accused the 66-year-old of impropriety going back 40 years ranging from sexual harassment to assault and rape.

The twice-married father of five has been investigated by British and U.S. police, but has not yet been charged with any crime. He denies having non-consensual sex and has reportedly been in treatment for sex addiction.

Meanwhile, Oscar winning actor Morgan Freeman has been accused by a film production assistant of harassing her for months during filming of bank robbery comedy Going in Style, CNN reported. She said the 80-year-old touched her repeatedly, tried to lift her skirt and asked if she was wearing underwear.

The production assistant was among eight women to tell CNN they had been the victims of harassment. She told CNN that during the harassment another actor, Alan Arkin, "made a comment telling him to stop. Morgan got freaked out and didn't know what to say".

Meanwhile a woman who worked on the 2013 film Now You See Me said staff knew "not to wear any top that would show our breasts, not to wear anything that would show our bottoms" or any close-fitting clothes if Freeman was around.

Following these reports, Freeman apologised to "anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected". "Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows I am not someone who would intentionally offend or knowingly make anyone feel uneasy," he said in a statement.

Freeman is the latest well-known Hollywood figure to be accused of sexual misconduct. (With Agency inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 25, 2018 02:40 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).