Morgan Freeman apologizes again, says he ‘did not assault women’

The original mea culpa came several hours after a CNN report Thursday in which the women — backed up by eight additional witnesses — described “a pattern of inappropriate behavior by Freeman on set, while promoting his movies and at his production company Revelations Entertainment.”

Among other things, Freeman allegedly subjected two women to “unwanted touching” and three said he made “public comments about women’s clothing or bodies.”

“But each of them said they didn’t report Freeman’s behavior, with most saying it was because they feared for their jobs,” CNN reported.

In his original statement Thursday, Freeman couched his apology. “Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows I am not someone who would willingly offend or knowingly make anyone feel uneasy.” “I apologize to anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected — that was never my intent.”

Morgan Freeman participates in the “The Story of God” panel at the National Geographic Channel 2016 Winter TCA on Jan. 6, 2016, in Pasadena, California.Richard Shotwell / Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

CNN said it also reached out to “dozens more people” who worked with Freeman and who said they never saw him misbehave and insisted he was “a consummate professional on set and in the office.”

Only two of the women accusing Freeman — including Chloe Melas, a co-author of the CNN article, who says she was harassed while interviewing the actor on a junket — were named. NBC has not verified the allegations against the actor.

Freeman, 80, made his mark in movies like “Driving Miss Daisy” and “Shawshank Redemption” and won the Academy Award for best supporting actor for “Million Dollar Baby.” He also made waves playing God in “Bruce Almighty.”

The iconic actor has been nominated four other times for an Oscar and is also famous for his voice-over work in the Oscar-winning documentaries “March of the Penguins” and “The Long Way Home.”

Freeman’s voice has also been a marketing moneymaker, but this week Visa announced it was suspending its series of television commercials that rely on the actor’s vocals. In a statement the credit card giant cited the “allegations that have been made against Mr. Freeman.”

Although he was recently tapped to be the new voice of the Vancouver (Canada) TransLink metro system, the agency said in a statement Thursday that he’s been dropped for now as a result of the “serious allegations.”

“TransLink has decided to pause his voice announcements as part of a Visa ad campaign on the transit system.”