Court confirms Roman Polanski's expulsion from the Oscar Academy

Icon: enlarge

Roman Polanski (2017): According to the judge, the procedure is "fair and appropriate"

Roman Polanski's return to the Oscar Academy is unlikely to happen. The director suffered defeat in a US court. According to the ruling of the responsible judge in Los Angeles, his expulsion in 2018 on charges of sexual assault and thus violations of the ethical standards of the film association was lawful.

In a message from the Academy, which was available to the dpa news agency, it said they were pleased about the court's confirmation that the action against the now 87-year-old was "fair and appropriate" at the time. According to the judge, he was allowed to comment sufficiently on the allegations against his person.

Polanski had to leave the film academy responsible for the Oscar award in May 2018 in the course of the #Metoo debate. After allegations of sexual assault, entertainer Bill Cosby and producer Harvey Weinstein were also excluded.

In 1977, the Polish-French filmmaker admitted unlawful sexual acts with a then 13-year-old in court. Immediately before the sentence was pronounced, he fled to France and has never returned to the United States.

A new allegation was raised last year

His attorney Harland Braun filed a lawsuit against the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last year. Polanski's expulsion from the body was too sudden and without a hearing, he claimed. His client did not receive a fair trial.

In addition to the 1977 case, new allegations against Polanski had been raised last year. In November, the Frenchwoman Valentine Monnier had stated that he had raped her in 1975 during a ski holiday together in Gstaad, Switzerland. Monnier was 18 years old at the time, Polanski 42.

The Parisian newspaper "Le Parisien" first reported on Monnier's allegation. Through his lawyer Hervé Temine, Polanski had let the newspaper know that he firmly rejects the allegation.

jok / dpa