When convicted rapist Roman Polanski won best director at France’s Cesar Awards on Friday, several attendees—including director Céline Sciamma, actresses Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel, and cinematographer Claire Mathon—reportedly walked out of the room. Polanski, who won the award for his film An Officer And A Spy, was absent during the ceremony in Paris because he said he feared a “public lynching.” The director pleaded guilty in 1977 to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old when he was 43—then fled the United States. More recently, he has been accused by French model and actress Valentine Monnier of violently raping her when she was 18 years old—an allegation Polanski has denied.