The Academy of Oscars will have to defend itself in the court of its decision to exclude, last year in full motion #MeToo, the French-Polish director Roman Polanski, who fled the United States four decades ago after having pleaded guilty to minor misappropriation. Roman Polanski, 85, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles, California on Thursday, according to the summons issued by his lawyer Harland Braun to AFP on Saturday.
On May 3, 2018, the Academy of Film Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars and has more than 7,000 members, announced the exclusion of Roman Polanski at the same time as that of Bill Cosby, convicted of sexual assault. The decision was sent by mail the same day to the director, "with immediate effect". At the time, the 54-member Academy Board of Governors said it had followed its new standards of good conduct, adopted early in the #MeToo movement and after the fall of producer Harvey Weinstein.
Polanski would have liked "a chance to be heard"
But Roman Polanski believes, in the assignment drafted by his counsel, that the Academy should have given him "reasonable notice" before any measure of exclusion, and "a reasonable chance to be heard". It is stated in this document that the Hollywood organization, which brings together professionals of the 7th art, met on January 26 to re-examine and confirm its decision. "The procedures followed to expel Roman Polanski were fair and reasonable and the Academy is defending an appropriate decision," a spokesman said in a statement to Variety on Friday.
The director was admitted to the Academy in 1968
Roman Polanski pleaded guilty in 1977 to diverting a minor for unlawful sex with Samantha Geimer, then 13 years old. This single count was the result of an amicable agreement with the judge, after Polanski was initially charged with more serious charges, including the rape of a minor under the influence of narcotics. Samantha Geimer, who has already explained that she forgave Roman Polanski, said she supported him in his readmission process. The filmmaker fled the United States as a result of a change in the judge's position, which threatened to sentence him to a heavier sentence than anticipated. US prosecutors are still seeking to return him to the country to receive his sentence. He was admitted to the Academy on December 31, 1968, his lawyer said.