France Court acquits Roman Polanski of defamation charges

The Paris Court of Appeal has ruled in favor of the French-Polish filmmaker in the defamation case against Roman Polanski (91). The court has thus confirmed the acquittal at first instance in May. The British actress Charlotte Lewis had filed a lawsuit against Polanski because he had described the rape allegations she had made in an interview as a "heinous lie".

According to several media outlets, the court also rejected Lewis' claim for damages. The actress's lawyer, Benjamin Chouai, said that he would speak to his client about a possible appeal to the Supreme Court. Lewis had filed a lawsuit against the Oscar winner ("The Pianist") in 2019.

Actress: misquoted

In the interview in question, Polanski referred to statements made by the actress in an English magazine in which she had said that she had been fascinated by him and wanted to become his lover. Lewis explained that she had been misquoted in the magazine.

Lewis had said at a press conference in 2010 that the director had raped her in 1983. She was 16 years old at the time. However, according to her own statement, she had not filed a lawsuit against Polanski because she assumed that the case was time-barred. Under Polanski's direction, Lewis had starred in the 1986 adventure film "Pirates".

Exile in Europe

Polanski has been accused of sexual violence by several women in the past. Since 1978, the director has also been on the run from the US authorities because of a charge of having sex with a minor. At the time, Polanski had admitted to having unauthorized sex with a 13-year-old, but denied rape. He fled the USA when a guilty verdict and prison sentence loomed on the horizon.

Polanski never traveled to the USA again. In May of this year, a trial scheduled against him there for the alleged rape of a minor in 1973 was dropped. The case was settled to the mutual satisfaction of the parties and formally canceled. Polanski now lives in Paris.

SDA