Poor Me

Polanski ‘Blindsided’ by Academy Expulsion, Demands Hearing

Was thrown out alongside Bill Cosby.

Roman Polanski was “blindsided” by the announcement by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences that it’s moving to expel him from the organization, his lawyer said. The Oscar-winning director, who fled the U.S. after being convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl in 1978, is being expelled from the Academy alongside Bill Cosby, who was convicted of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting Temple University employee Andrea Constand. Polanski’s attorney, Harland Braun, says the director will ask the Academy to conduct a hearing so he can make his case to remain in the prestigious group. Braun said Polanski’s team was prepared to present academy officials a case to remain in the organization but it was never given the opportunity.