Morgan Freeman on Baltimore news coverage: 'F*** the media'
theGRIO REPORT - Morgan Freeman is not a fan of how the aftermath of Freddie Gray's arrest and death has been covered by some mainstream media outlets...
Morgan Freeman is not a fan of how the aftermath of Freddie Gray’s arrest and death has been covered by some mainstream media outlets.
Freeman says he not only supports the protesters but believes that technology and social media has helped expose police brutality.
In another wide-ranging interview with the Daily Beast’s Marlow Stern, Freeman was even more emphatic.
“Look at MSNBC, Fox News, and CNN,” he said. “Go between those three. There’s a take, there’s a take, and there’s a take. It’s just commentary. CNN wants to be pure news, but the others are just commentary. They’re just commenting on things.”
Freeman told Stern cable news outlets too often jump to unsubstantiated conclusions as filler for its daily shows.
After much discussion, Freeman finally gave up: “F*** the media,” he said chuckling.
Freeman’s been busy on a press run for his new film Five Flights Up with Diane Keaton. He also shared similar sentiments about Baltimore’s protests coverage with Newsweek.
“I was watching the news last night,” he told Newsweek’s Zach Shonfeld, “and [a protester] said, ‘You know, when we were out here marching peacefully, nobody was here. And now we start burning the place down, everybody is listening. What do you think we’re gonna do to be heard?’ It’s like, hey, she’s got a point there.”
Freeman said the modern conveniences of cell phones and video sharing have helped bring specifics of cases to light in a way that was not possible before.
“Because of the technology — everybody has a smartphone — now we can see what the police are doing,” he said. “We can show the world, Look, this is what happened in that situation. So why are so many people dying in police custody? And why are they all black? And why are all the police killing them white? What is that?”
The 77-year-old actor had some pointed criticism for the officer involved in the Walter Scott shooting in South Carolina last month.
“The police have always said, ‘I feared for my safety,’” Freeman added. “Well, now we know. OK. You feared for your safety while a guy was running away from you, right?”
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