The familiar sounds of a three-part chorus filled my bedroom as I did the first listen to Jesus is King. Anticipating the iconic gospel/rap mashup, I looked forward to something fully black with melodies over heavy beats. This album, however, missed the angst of “Jesus Walks,” the complication of “Ultralight Beam,”…
CNN staff members are reportedly upset that their parent company, WarnerMedia, hired Morgan Freeman to narrate a portion of a video presented to investors this week.
According to Variety, the reason staffers are angry is because some feel that the recent allegations against Freeman by eight women, which include harassment and inappropriate behavior claims, should have automatically disqualified him from the job. Particularly since last May, CNN reporters An Phung and Chloe Melas investigated the allegations and released an in-depth story.
READ MORE: Morgan Freeman on playing POTUS in ‘Angel Has Fallen’
Now several anonymous staffers, who reportedly fear retribution if they reveal their names, tell Variety that WarnerMedia’s hiring of Freeman flies in the face of that reporting.
“It’s disgusting,” one CNN employee reportedly told the magazine. “So many of us were scratching our heads in shock, wondering how something like this could even happen.”
On Tuesday, during the presentation to investors, Freeman narrated the opening video.
The video was put together to show the individual accomplishments of AT&T, Warner Bros.’ and Turner – three companies that are now operating as one consolidated company. The five-minute video featured telephone and satellite imagery, snippets from hit movies like Casablanca, Harry Potter series, and television comedies and dramas such as Friends and ER. The video also highlights the work of CNN journalists. Freeman’s voice appears at the beginning of the video, which also includes John Stankey, WarnerMedia’s CEO, unveiling a new streaming service called HBO Max.
“Innovation: It can be born out of a single spark,” Freeman’s voice can be heard saying, according to Variety. “And this spark has spread to change our lives forever, connecting us instantaneously through the stars high above. Today, that spark is continuing to spread.”
Neither WarnerMedia or CNN responded to a request for comment, Variety reported.
In the CNN expose about Freeman, Melas revealed that the actor had acted inappropriately around her. “According to Melas, who was six months pregnant at the time, Freeman, in a room full of people, including his co-stars (Alan) Arkin and (Michael) Caine, shook Melas’ hand, not letting go while repeatedly looking her up and down and saying more than once a variation of, ‘I wish I was there.’ She says he also said to her, ‘You are ripe,’” according to Variety.
Melas and Phung also did not respond to an interview request, but one CNN employee told the magazine that hiring Freeman was “disrespectful” to Melas.
“Someone just wasn’t thinking, and didn’t do research, I guess.”
For his part, Freeman denied the CNN article when it broke last year. He reportedly said the allegations made against him were a misunderstanding and that he was trying to be humorous.
“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,” Freeman said, according to Variety.
“I did not create unsafe work environments. I did not assault women. I did not offer employment or advancement in exchange for sex,” Freeman reportedly said at the time. “Any suggestion that I did so is completely false.”
The post CNN employees stunned by the use of Morgan Freeman’s voice in video appeared first on theGrio.
With roughly three months before the first contest of the Democratic presidential primary season, Sen. Kamala Harris is placing all her political chips on Iowa. In a memo sent to staff and top donors, campaign manager Juan Rodriguez spelled out how the California senator was radically restructuring operations to maximize outreach throughout the state. To bolster its war chest and beef up its ground game at this most critical stage, the campaign blitz calls for significantly slashing salaries and staff at Baltimore headquarters.as well as redeploying those operating out of campaign offices in New Hampshire, Nevada, and California to Iowa “for the home stretch of the caucus campaign.”
“To effectively compete with the top campaigns and make the necessary investments in the critical final 100 days to the caucus, we need to reduce expenditures elsewhere and realign resources. From the beginning of this campaign, Kamala Harris and this team set out with one goal—to win the nomination and defeat Donald Trump in 2020. This requires us to make difficult strategic decisions and make clear priorities, not threaten to drop out or deploy gimmicks,” the memo stated.
News of the realignment was first reported by Politico and news organizations like CBS News obtained copies of the memo.
The memo further stated that Harris has raised a total of $35 million through 350,000 donors. But the campaign has yet to recapture the momentum gained after the first Democratic debate in June. Since then she has seen a precipitous drop in both campaign contributions and poll standings. For instance, CBS News reported that Harris raised $11.7 million in the third quarter behind the campaigns of Sen. Bernie Sanders ($25.3 million), Sen. Elizabeth Warren ($24.6 million), former Vice President Joe Biden ($15,7 million), and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigeig ($19.1 million). She also trails behind them in the latest polls—as pointed out in The New York Times on Wednesday, despite the diverse field of candidates, all Democratic frontrunners are white.
Based on historical trends, Harris believes that she can reverse her electoral fortunes in the Hawkeye State. According to the memo, she “will continue to spend significant time in Iowa” throughout the month of November, including through the Thanksgiving holiday. Rodriguez wrote in the memo: “She is determined to earn the support of every caucus goer she can in the next 96 days.”
Political observers maintain that this type of radical repositioning has not been an unusual tact heading into presidential primaries—especially with an emphasis on the Iowa Caucus. Such a massive overhaul, however, must occur by the beginning of November to amass resources necessary for impact. In fact, the Harris campaign pointed to past presidential nominees on both sides of the aisle to communicate that the realignment could prove to be a successful strategy for Iowa and beyond. The memo stated: “Plenty of winning primary campaigns, like John Kerry’s in 2004 and John McCain’s in 2008, have had to make tough choices on their way to the nomination, and this is no different.”
With roughly three months before the first contest of the Democratic presidential primary season, Sen. Kamala Harris is placing all her political chips on Iowa. In a memo sent to staff and top donors, campaign manager Juan Rodriguez spelled out how the California senator was radically restructuring operations to maximize outreach throughout the state. To bolster its war chest and beef up its ground game at this most critical stage, the campaign blitz calls for significantly slashing salaries and staff at Baltimore headquarters.as well as redeploying those operating out of campaign offices in New Hampshire, Nevada, and California to Iowa “for the home stretch of the caucus campaign.”
“To effectively compete with the top campaigns and make the necessary investments in the critical final 100 days to the caucus, we need to reduce expenditures elsewhere and realign resources. From the beginning of this campaign, Kamala Harris and this team set out with one goal—to win the nomination and defeat Donald Trump in 2020. This requires us to make difficult strategic decisions and make clear priorities, not threaten to drop out or deploy gimmicks,” the memo stated.
News of the realignment was first reported by Politico and news organizations like CBS News obtained copies of the memo.
The memo further stated that Harris has raised a total of $35 million through 350,000 donors. But the campaign has yet to recapture the momentum gained after the first Democratic debate in June. Since then she has seen a precipitous drop in both campaign contributions and poll standings. For instance, CBS News reported that Harris raised $11.7 million in the third quarter behind the campaigns of Sen. Bernie Sanders ($25.3 million), Sen. Elizabeth Warren ($24.6 million), former Vice President Joe Biden ($15,7 million), and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigeig ($19.1 million). She also trails behind them in the latest polls—as pointed out in The New York Times on Wednesday, despite the diverse field of candidates, all Democratic frontrunners are white.
Based on historical trends, Harris believes that she can reverse her electoral fortunes in the Hawkeye State. According to the memo, she “will continue to spend significant time in Iowa” throughout the month of November, including through the Thanksgiving holiday. Rodriguez wrote in the memo: “She is determined to earn the support of every caucus goer she can in the next 96 days.”
Political observers maintain that this type of radical repositioning has not been an unusual tact heading into presidential primaries—especially with an emphasis on the Iowa Caucus. Such a massive overhaul, however, must occur by the beginning of November to amass resources necessary for impact. In fact, the Harris campaign pointed to past presidential nominees on both sides of the aisle to communicate that the realignment could prove to be a successful strategy for Iowa and beyond. The memo stated: “Plenty of winning primary campaigns, like John Kerry’s in 2004 and John McCain’s in 2008, have had to make tough choices on their way to the nomination, and this is no different.”
Even if you take the shackles off Robert “R.” Kelly’s feet so he can step in the name of love, apparently it would be a little bit difficult for him to do so today.