Oscar-Winning Director Roman Polanski Loses Bid For Academy Reinstatement

Roman Polanski’s hopes of making a comeback to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences were quashed on Aug. 25 when a judge ruled that the Academy had full right to expel him from the organization.

Judge Mary Strobel denied the filmmaker’s request to be reinstated to the Academy, saying that the organization had all the reasons to blacklist him, Variety reported. Polanski had filed a lawsuit against the Academy last year after the organization decided to ban the director in May 2018.

Judge Strobel noted that Academy could have given “The Pianist” helmer an advance notice before throwing him out. However, the organization rectified their mistake by giving him a fair trial. In her ruling, the judge also stated that the board’s decision to expel the petitioner was “not an abuse of discretion.”

“Board had cause to expel Petitioner. While the Board could have found the circumstances surrounding Petitioner’s continued fugitive status, including his allegations of serious judicial and prosecutorial misconduct, mitigated the need for expulsion, the Board’s decision is supported by the evidence, was not arbitrary or capricious, and was not an abuse of discretion,” Variety quoted Strobel, as saying.

Meanwhile, Polanski’s attorney, Harland Braun, made it clear that the Academy membership is not important to his client and means “nothing” to him.

“It means nothing to him . It’s the idea he’s being thrown out without any due process,” Braun told the media outlet.

In the petition filed in December 2019, Polanski alleged that the Academy did not follow its established protocols and dismissed evidence when it made its decision to expel the Polish director.

Polanski has directed some of the biggest hits of the 1960s and ’70s like “Rosemary’s Baby” and “Chinatown.” But his career suffered a serious dent when he was arrested and convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl named Samantha Geimer.

The director fled to France before the sentencing and remained there ever since.

Even after being held guilty of the crime, Polanski continued to work freely and even directed more than 10 movies since he was taken into custody in 1978.