Roman Polanski acquitted of defaming British actress
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Roman Polanski, the film director, has been acquitted in a French court of defaming Charlotte Lewis, the British actress, after she accused him of raping her as a teenager.
Lewis, 56, alleged in 2010 that the Franco-Polish director had sexually abused her in 1983 at his Paris apartment, when she was 16, after she had travelled to the French capital for a casting session. She went on to star in his 1986 film “Pirates”.
She sued for defamation after Polanski called her allegations a “heinous lie” in a 2019 interview with Paris Match magazine.
Paris Match said Polanski also referenced a quote allegedly made by Lewis during a 1999 interview with the News of the World, in which she reportedly said: “I wanted to be his mistress... I probably desired him more than he did me.”
But Lewis has disputed the quote’s accuracy.
Delphine Meillet, Polanski’s lawyer, hailed the verdict as “an important day for free speech and for defence rights”, adding: “Today a court said: yes one can challenge accusations.”
However, speaking to the media, Lewis tearfully said she would appeal the verdict.
“I feel sad and let down. It’s a sad day for women and men. But it’s not over. We are going to appeal,” she said.
The Polanski verdict came as this year’s Cannes Film Festival gets under way amid speculation about potentially explosive #MeToo allegations against a string of actors and directors.
Polanski, the director of classic films like Chinatown, Rosemary’s Baby, The Pianist and Carnage, fled California for Europe in 1978 after pleading guilty to unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl but before being formally sentenced.
After the #MeToo movement gained global traction in 2017 following sexual abuse allegations against US film producer Harvey Weinstein, several women alleged that Polanski had sexually assaulted them as teenagers.
Polanski has consistently denied the allegations, which never went to trial, but he has since found it hard to secure global distribution deals for his movies, even if actors are still lining up to work with him.
In 2020, Polanski won Best Director for his film “An Officer and a Spy” at the Cesars, prompting several women in the audience to walk out in protest of the honour being bestowed despite the allegations against him.
