The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have previously argued that the 'Rosemary's Baby' director has no rights to sue them over his expulsion due to his fugitive status.
- June 13, 2019
AceShowbiz - An attorney for Roman Polanski has fired back at Oscars officials, insisting their attempt to have the filmmaker's lawsuit dismissed is "a total sham".
The "Rosemary's Baby" director was expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the organisation behind the annual Oscars ceremony, in May, 2018, decades after he was found guilty of raping a 13-year-old girl at a Hollywood party in 1977.
Polanski fled the U.S. and returned to his native Europe before he could be sentenced, and has remained a fugitive from the law ever since.
He filed suit against AMPAS bosses in Los Angeles Superior Court in April, claiming executives broke their own rules by failing to give him a fair chance to challenge the decision.
This week (begins June 10), AMPAS lawyers fought back against Polanski's claims and insisted they had taken all the appropriate steps to oust him from the Academy, while also arguing that the director shouldn't be allowed to use the same legal system from which he fled to seek reinstatement.
However, Polanski's attorney, Harland Braun, is unimpressed by the Academy officials' challenge for dismissal.
"This response is totally absurd and a total sham," Braun tells Deadline.com.
"The whole thing is a stupid PR (public relations) stunt by them to look politically correct."
A judge has yet to rule on the defendants' request for dismissal.
