Amid increasing controversy,Roman Polanskihas opted not to attend the upcoming French equivalent of theAcademy Awards.
On Friday, the 2020 César Awards ceremony will be held in Paris, but the director, 86 — whose filmAn Officer and a Spyreceived the most nominationsthis year — now says he won’t show up to the event so as to avoid what he called an inevitable “public lynching.”
“We know how this evening will unfold already,” Polanskitold the AFP news agencyin a statement. “Activists are already threatening me with a public lynching, with some saying they are going to protest outside.”
He added: “What place can there be in such deplorable conditions for a film about the defense of truth, the fight for justice, blind hate and antisemitism?”
The retracted RSVP comes weeks after Polanski’s nominations, including best director,stirred outrageamong moviegoers and industry members, and 43 years after the filmmaker fled the U.S. for France, where he has lived in exile ever since.
Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
Polanski pleaded guilty to engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor in 1977 after 13-year-oldSamantha Geimeraccused him of getting her drunk and giving her part of a quaalude.
Polanski also facednew allegations of sexual assaultin November. A French lawyer for Polanski, Hervé Temime, toldLe Parisienin a statement that Polanski “firmly denies all accusations of rape, adding the allegations “which date back 45 years have never been reported to judicial authorities.”
Earlier this week, French actress Adèle Haenel, who is nominated for her romantic dramaPortrait of a Lady on Fire, spoke out about Polanski’s12 nominations, condemning praise on the Oscar winner.
“Distinguishing Polanski is spitting in the face of all victims. It means raping women isn’t that bad,” Haenel, 31, toldThe New York Times.
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Roman Polanski.Oleg Nikishin/Epsilon/Getty
An Officer and a Spy, which stars Oscar-winningThe Artistactor Jean Dujardin, is set 1894 and tells the story of a French captain who was wrongfully convicted of treason and faced a life sentence in prison.
At the time of the expulsion, the AMPAS said the decision to remove Polanski from its membership was to “encourage ethicalstandardsthat require members to uphold the Academy’s values of respect for human dignity.”
source: people.com
