*News coverage of the unrest in Baltimore has gotten a lot of people, including Morgan Freeman, all riled up.
In an interview with the Daily Beast’s Marlow Stern, the actor had words for certain media outlets while voicing his support of those protesting the death of Freddie Gray. In his eyes, there’s a lot of “commentating” going on in the news.
“Look at MSNBC, Fox News, and CNN. 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 as he pointed out how cable news outlets often use unsubstantiated conclusions they’ve jumped to as filler on their daily shows.
The actor’s comments come amid a press tour he’s on for his new film, “5 Flights Up” with Diane Keaton. As the interview continued, TheGrio.com reports that Freeman eventually threw in the towel with a retort to the outlets.
“F*** the media,” he said chuckling.
Although he humorously brushed off the media, that didn’t stop Freeman for having his say about protest coverage with Newsweek’s Zach Shonfeld.
“I was watching the news last night,” he said, “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 went on to acknowledge how modern devices like cell phones as well as the public’s penchant for video sharing have helped shine a light on details involving authorities that would’ve remained unknown back in the day.
“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?”
In addition to the media, the 77-year-old entertainer directed criticism toward Michael Slager, the officer involved in the fatal shooting of Walter Scott last month 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?”
