The Academy defends Roman Polanski's expulsion; filmmaker's lawyer calls it 'a stupid PR stunt'
The Academy had expelled Roman Polanski along with Bill Cosby in 2018 for sexual harassment convictions.
In a new court filing, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defended its decision to expel Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski, saying that he was given the opportunity to submit information that would get him reinstated, according to The Wrap.
File image of Roman Polanski. Image from The Associated Press
AMPAS lawyer John Quinn said that Polanski had "presented a ten-page letter from his lawyer advocating his position, over four hundred pages of supporting documents, a copy of a documentary titled Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, an email from his counsel, and a recorded video statement by Petitioner addressing the Board." This material was presented to a Board of Governors for review, who on 26 January this year voted in favour of Polanski's removal.
Harland Braun, the filmmaker's lawyer, in a statement to Deadline called the Academy's defense "a stupid PR stunt by them to look politically correct."
In 2018, the Academy had booted Polanski along with comic Bill Cosby, as a result of the organisation's Standards of Conduct enacted after the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal.
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Polanski has admitted to having sex with a 13-year-old girl after plying her with champagne and pills in 1978 at actor Jack Nicholson's house. He fled the US to avoid jail and continues to be a fugitive in the country though he won a Best Director Oscar for his Holocaust film The Pianist in 2003.
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