Freedom

Polanski Emerges From House Arrest

Watches wife perform at Swiss jazz festival.

Roman Polanski has finally been let out of the house, and he's back to living the good life. Less than a week after Swiss authorities declined to extradite him to the U.S. to face charges for having sex with a minor in 1977, the embattled director made his first public appearance to watch his wife, Emmanuelle Seigner, perform at a Swiss jazz festival in Montreux. Though his attendance caused quite a stir with the press and photographers, Polanski stayed mostly out of sight, watching quietly from a VIP box during his wife's 55-minute set. Prior to the show, the famous director taped his first television interview since leaving the house, telling a Swiss media outlet that though he wasn't sure of his future plans, he was "happy to be free." He added, "I never asked for special treatment." Polanski, 76, is an old friend of Claude Nobs, the founder of the festival, and was spotted staying at Nobs' chalet earlier in the day, about an hour's drive from Gstaad, where he spent months under house arrest.