Roman Polanski: Director in court for defamation

Roman Polanski (90) is back in court. The director will have to stand trial in Paris from Tuesday, March 5th. British actress Charlotte Lewis (56) accuses Polanski of sexually abusing her in 1982. She was a minor at the time. “He knew I was 16 when he forced himself on me in his Paris apartment,” she said.

But the trial is not about the act itself. Charlotte Lewis is suing Polanski for defamation. The filmmaker had harshly rejected her allegations and cast doubt on her credibility.

A stumbling block is a gift. In it, the “Dance of the Vampires” director described Charlotte Lewis’ 2010 accusation as a “hideous lie.” They’re trying to “make him a monster.” The editor of “Paris Match” is also accused of libel.

“I wanted to be his lover”: Polanski quoted the plaintiff’s old statements

Polanski then quoted from an interview Lewis gave to the British tabloid News of the World in 1999. “I was fascinated by him, I wanted to be his lover,” the actress is said to have said about him and: “I probably wanted him more than he wanted me.” Samantha Lewis later said that News of the World had misrepresented her.

Roman Polanski dug up more quotes from Lewis in an interview with “Paris Match”. In 1986 she told “France Soir” that she “owed everything” to Polanski. In 1986 she filmed “Pirates” with the director. So four years after the alleged rape. Charlotte Lewis also described the filming in “Paris Match” in 1986 as an “absolute dream”. She described her relationship with Polanski as a “history of friendship.” The filmmaker suggested in 2019 that Lewis now wanted to sue him out of “frustration.”

The long list of Roman Polanski’s accusers

In an interview with “Paris Match,” Polanski complained that Charlotte Lewis was mentioned in the “list of his accusers” without acknowledging these obvious contradictions in her statements. The list of accusations against Polanski is actually long: As a result of the MeToo movement, several women accused him of being abused by him when they were minors.

Long before MeToo, Roman Polanski was already convicted of abuse in the USA. According to a Los Angeles court, the filmmaker raped the then 13-year-old Samantha Geimer “using narcotics.” Polanski pleaded guilty to “extramarital sex with a minor.” He spent 42 days in prison, then was released early with the recommendation of a suspended sentence.

When it became apparent that a judge would not follow the recommendation and there was a risk of a longer prison sentence, the Polish native fled to France. He has lived there since then and is still threatened with arrest in the USA. Now he is on trial for the first time in his adopted homeland in connection with sexual abuse. Although it is expected that he will not appear in person for the trial.