In the defamation trial
Director acquitted of defamation charges
Roman Polanski hasn’t lived in the USA for decades.
© Denis Makarenko/Shutterstock
Roman Polanski was acquitted of libel charges by a Paris court. But the next lawsuit is already waiting in the USA.
Director Roman Polanski (90) celebrated a success in a court in France. The press chamber responsible there rated the 90-year-old’s statements as not defamatory, as reported by The New York Times, among others. According to the report, the filmmaker was not personally there to attend the verdict.
The British actress Charlotte Lewis (56) initiated a libel case against Polanski. The now 56-year-old accuses him of sexually abusing her in 1983 when she was 16 years old. However, Lewis did not file a lawsuit because of this alleged crime, but rather because of statements Polanski made about this in an interview from 2019.
Defamation or freedom of expression?
In conversation with the French magazine “Paris Match” He had described Charlotte Lewis’ accusation as a “vile lie” and an attempt to “make him a monster”. The actress then filed her defamation lawsuit, which has been heard in a Paris court since the beginning of March this year. They came to the conclusion that Polanski’s statements were within the scope of his freedom of expression and consequently decided to acquit him.
Roman Polanski’s lawyer Delphine Meillet is quoted as saying that this decision is “an extremely important day for the rights” of the director. The other side, however, is already examining the possibility of appealing the verdict: “It’s not over for us yet,” Lewis said after the verdict, which was disappointing for them.
Next year it continues in the USA
Regardless of this outcome, Polanski will have to answer in another court case next year. A civil trial against him in the USA is scheduled to begin in August 2025. The filmmaker is accused of rape, the corresponding one Lawsuit was reported submitted in June 2023.
A judge in Santa Monica set the trial date in mid-March this year after the California-based plaintiff filed the lawsuit under a law that extends the statute of limitations in child abuse cases. The alleged crime is said to have occurred in 1973. According to the allegations, Roman Polanski gave the then underage woman alcohol and raped her. Polanski also vehemently denies this accusation.