Misdeed: In March 1977, the director raped a 13-year-old girl at Jack Nicholson's mansion, allegedly after giving her champagne and quaaludes. He pleaded guilty to statutory rape and expected not be sentenced to jail, but when a prison sentence began to seem likely, he went on the lam, living freely in France, from February 1978 until September 2009, when he was arrested trying to enter Switzerland to receive a prize. He is currently fighting extradition to the United States.
The Non-Apology: Polanski cut the plea bargain but has otherwise been unrepentant. In May 2010, he posted an open letter online. He wrote, "I have had my share of dramas and joys, as we all have, and I am not going to try to ask you to pity my lot in life. I ask only to be treated fairly like anyone else." He closed his lengthy screed this way: "Such are the facts I wished to put before you in the hope that Switzerland will recognize that there are no grounds for extradition, and that I shall be able to find peace, be reunited with my family, and live in freedom in my native land."
Sincerity Index: Please. We've all heard the back story--Polanski is a Holocaust survivor, and his wife, Sharon Tate, was also brutally murdered by the Manson family. That's awful, but it doesn't justify child rape, and it doesn't justify Polanski's continued impudence. -8
