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EXCLUSIVE: I have obtained the email which is going out tonight imploring Hollywood and world moviemakers to add their names to a petition protesting Roman Polanski's Swiss jailing and possible extradition to Los Angeles.
Dear Friend,
Thierry Fremaux told me the shocking news of Roman’s arrest in Zurich, which by now the whole world is attuned to. We are all incredibly distressed and disappointed by this turn of events, particularly as Roman was en route to receive an award, for his career in film, in a country where he often visited and even had a home.
In Marina Zenovich’s documentary “ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED”, it clearly showed that a plea bargain was made with the judge; the District Attorney and Polanski’s lawyers too acknowledged that a deal had been made. Roman however got a tip that the judge had recanted his decision and planned to double cross him, causing him to leave the US to which he has not since returned.
While he is not above the law, Polanski received his punishment and served his time, and the deal is not being honored. The idea of Roman Polanski incarcerated is an anathema and a situation that we, who have the privilege of making movies, cannot tolerate. We must lobby against any move to bring him back to the US where he could face jail time. Unfortunately, some believe that a man, considered by many to have suffered enough, has in fact not and has another uphill fight ahead of him.
I urge you to add your voice to this fight. Thierry and the French artistic community are beginning an extraordinary battle to bring justice to this situation, including reaching to the highest corridors and President Sarkozy. We as Americans, and as part of the global film community, must be prepared to stand together and lobby against the governing bodies of this case.
If you would like your name added to this petition, please email [private address].
I also support you forwarding this email to others in our community to enlist their help and support.
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First he drugs and rapes a 13 year old. Then the 40 something Polanski starts sleeping with the 15 year old Nastassja Kinski. Any other profession, everyone would recognize him for the sick perv he is. But hey, he makes movies, he’s won some awards, so I guess he must be an OK guy. Right?
How is it that when so many people enter the film industry they completely lose their sense of right and wrong? Every person who signs that signs that petition or speaks up on his behalf should be forced to read the victim’s statement to the police before opening their mouths and making fools of themselves.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/polanskicover1.html
Roman Polanski must serve his time for the crime he committed. The people who are supporting him must ask themselves, “if this little girl was my child, would I feel differently?” The answer would be a resounding yes. Signing the petition shows no moral compass.
REALLY glad to see Anita Busch back in print, even in the comments seciton of DHD. Hope to see more of Anita, we need her voice and viewpoint.
Thanks for posting this link. It makes this whole petition thing seem even sicker.
I totally agree with you. Polanski committed a terrible crime and regardless of time passed should be tried and convicted. Would he be treated with the same ‘regard’ if he were a plumber, joiner, lawyer or dog walker?
What must have happened to his mind after Sharon Tate’s gruesome death? His behavior though was wrong and I feel the punishment and sentence should be delivered to Mr. Polanski by his victim. People should remember that 13 year old boys and girls use drugs and are sexually active, wether legal or not.
Mr. Polanski should make a film for the penal system about the dangers and repercussions for this crime…and it is a crime even though it was consensual.
It was not, NOT consensual! He drugged, raped and sodomized a 13 year old girl. All the while she said NO and asked to be taken home. That is rape! If that is not rape then I don’t know what is. This is statutory and regular rape! He needs to be locked in prison not making movies.
First, the victim has requested that no action be taken against Polanski. Secondly, the only one who is going to be further harmed is the victim and her family. Thirdly, Polanski has already settled out of court on a monetary settlement for the victim, which she accepted.
Make no mistake, there will be NO JUSTICE in the US for Polanski. There will be a tree ring media circus that will cost taxpayers millions. Old wounds will be reopened for the victim and all the time and money she has invested in her recovery will have been wasted.
Polanski has had some horrific experiences with America. His wife Sharon was slaughtered along with many of their friends by American svengali Charles Manson. The judge in his trial for the rape conviction decided to disobey the wishes of the prosecution and the defence in an effort to make an example of him…all because he was famous.
Wealth and fame may have it’s perks, but it also has it’s downside. Judges and politicians sought to use him and his conviction to further their own political aspirations. It was a wonderful example of the US Judicial system at it’s corrupt best.
Besides, since the US wants Polanski so badly, I say they should be willingl to give up Henry Kissinger in return (who’s wanted in many countries on a World Court war crimes conviction). So, why doesn’t the EU band together and demand Kissinger for Polanski? LOL, let’s see how badly the Americans howl and gnash their teeth over that one.
Free Polanski, and coax the Americans into fixing their now corrupt judicial system.
POLANSKI, HIS DEFENDERS AND OTHER HOLLYWOOD VOICES
We are workers in the entertainment industry.
We’re troubled by the statements of several prominent industry figures, regarding the treatment of Roman Polanski by law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and Switzerland.
Polanski is an accomplished film director, but he is not above the law. He stands convicted, in part by his own testimony, of perpetrating a serious crime upon a thirteen year old girl.
The fact that he committed the crime 32 years ago does not diminish the gravity of the act. And, instead of facing up to the legal (and moral) consequences of his act, Polanski fled, making himself a fugitive from justice.
The fact that his victim would like to put her horrific experience behind her does not in any way mitigate Polanski’s guilt.
His courtroom admissions are not the only indication that Polanski, unlike his high-profile defenders, is aware that his crime cannot be lightly dismissed. We believe that by agreeing, in October 1993, to pay his victim $500,000, Polanski was tacitly acknowledging, sixteen years after his crime, that he had done serious and lasting damage to another human being.
Every person in the United States is entitled to due process under the law. If Polanski believes that his case was adjudicated improperly, he is entitled to appeal his conviction. It’s doubtful that he lacks the funds to hire a more than competent legal team.
He has legal recourse and the means to avail himself of it. But the idea that the legal consequences of his actions should be waived, in light of his contributions to the art of motion pictures, gives every appearance of an elitist evasion of the responsibility of a society to protect all of its members from harm, especially the most vulnerable.
Polanski’s high-profile advocates can exercise their influence to make sure that he is treated fairly. But they should not be using their celebrity to lobby for his escape from the just consequences of his behavior.
We call upon our prominent colleagues to let justice take its course. Their widely reported pronouncements to date call into question the moral judgment, not to mention the compassion, of the entertainment community.
Bernard K. Addison
Perry Adleman
Jeryll W. Adler
David Andriole
Graham Beckel
Robert Curtis Brown
Jennifer Caldwell
Frances Callier
Jordana Capra
David Clennon
Lisa Cohen
John Cygan
Joe d’Angerio
David Dedinsky
Anthony De Santis
Emily Dibinie
Cindy Dolenc
Jon Edelman
Leon David Franco
Thomas Furlano
Ashley Gable
Bonnie Garvin
Eve Gordon
Samantha Hartson
Sumi Haru
Patricia Hill
Basil Hoffman
Chane’t Johnson
Peaches Johnson
Janis Jones
Mobin Khan
Henry Kingi
James Lafferty
David Macaray
Sandi Mahanna
Leo Marks
Diane Modafferi
Paul Napier
Barbara Niven
Morgan Paull
Gladys Peters
Scott Pierce
Joel Polis
Lee Wayne Ryder
Michael Sanville
Joan Sekler
Angela Shelton
Anne Silber
Angel Tompkins
Todd Waring
I choose to remain on the side of justice. I will not sign the petition.
Reminder: Roman Polanski Raped a Child. (http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2009/09/28/polanski_arrest/index.html)
Agreed. The man has evaded justice for all these years. Why is he above the law? Why is everyone rushing to defend a predatory rapist? Dan in NYC is totally right and so is hwah. I noticed Woody Allen had come to his defense. How appropriate.
Like Busch, you’re right.
Ummm, he did NOT serve a sentence. He served 42-days for psychological evaluation. The deal would have been “time served” under the 42-day evaluation.
He fled the country. He jumped bail. Despite what Ms. Winger said, it is NOT a minor technicality. That is ILLEGAL.
No surprise he is fighting being brought back. When he is, hopefully he will get additional jail time for his crime of fleeing. Plus, if he stays in US (I hope they ban him) he should have to register as a sex offender.
I am amazed at the Hollywood numbskulls who are willing to look the other way for a crime that many love to claim is old history. Gee, wonder if they’d say the same thing about the young girl recently found after being kidnaped & raped? Or if happened to one of their kids?
Hey. I like Roman’s work, but I’ve also read a thirteen year old girl’s testimony. It’s damning.
He broke the law, and not one of those victimless crime laws. ANYONE else and NO ONE would want to give them any breaks. Then, he fled from justice like a coward. You know, sorry, he needs to face the music.
Anyone who signs that petition is a dipshit.
This claims, “While he is not above the law, Polanski received his punishment and served his time . . . ” He did? Him running away from a sentencing and living a free man in another country is serving time? I’m sorry, but this petition turns my stomach.
“The idea of Roman Polanski incarcerated is an anathema and a situation that we, who have the privilege of making movies, cannot tolerate. . . ”
You make movies. That’s it. Now shut up.
Dan and hwah, go get stuffed.
Like it or not, in the 1970s, it was totally legal to try and cut a plea bargain for this type of activity (that was the law back then, no matter how reprehensible it may seem nowadawys). If you could convince the District Attorney that you were not a danger to society, that you had some sort of giant mental brain-fart and that you were remorseful, leniency was a possibility.
Roman Polanski did everything the law ordered him to do. He was incarcerated in a psychiatric facility for 42 days and examined by doctors who submitted written findings. The DA decided to go with leniency and cut a deal. All of this was TOTALLY legal.
The judge decided to double-cross the DA and impose a strict sentence, probably to increase his chances of re-election. THAT was illegal.
Polanski fled when it became apparent that he was being railroaded.
AT WORST Roman Polanski is a fugitive from “justice” but despite your opinions, hopes and desires for justice (read revenge) he has already done every minute of time the law required for his crime.
Deal with it.
So presumably you were up in arms when a judge tore up a plea bargain between Bank of America and the SEC a few months back? Judges *can* do that, and it is not illegal.
Maybe the judge thought 6 weeks of looking at ink blots for drugging and raping a 13 year old girl was too lenient?
I think the rest of the world would agree.
anotherwgamember – he did not do “every minute of time the law required” because he fled the country before sentencing. He didn’t stick around to see what the law required.
What we’re talking about is a bunch of folks signing a petition to support a guy who, in his 40’s, liked having sex with 13-15 year old girls. Talk about the judge and DA all you want. Wrong is wrong, and the dopes supporting Polanski should know it. The perv doesn’t deserve any support.
Oh, that’s right. It wasn’t about him raping a child. It was that he was a victim, on the wrong side of sleazy, double-crossing judge.
Maybe if he hadn’t raped a child to begin with, he wouldn’t be in the position for a judge to betray him.
you’re pretty ignorant about what a plea bargain is. it’s not a binding document signed in blood.
the judge did nothing illegal. you have no clue what you are even saying.
Polanski would not be dealing with this had he not become a fugitive which is a crime in and of itself.
Actually we have no idea what the judge decided to do because the admitted child rapist choose to flee the country before he was sentenced. If his sentence was not what he agreed upon with the DA, he would have had grounds for an appeal. As already mentioned, it is up to the judge to decided the final sentence.
You are correct – he was originally charged with 7 or so felonies but admitted he was a child rapist. He should have taken whatever sweet deal they offered him and been done with it. I hope they bring back all the charges and send him to LA Country with Roscoe and Chuy.
Feral dogs protect their young from predators. What does this say about these people who are defending Polanski?
AT WORST he’s a fugitive?! Are you kidding me? At worst, he’s a scumbag pedophile who stalked, drugged, and anally raped a child. Let’s forgive him because he made Chinatown and the Pianist. He’s should rot in jail for his crime and his flauting of the law. he’s a douche. A criminal douche. Anyone who signs a petition to “free” him should be ashamed.
Why is it that some people feel the need to mention that he “anally raped” the girl rather than just saying “raped?” Does the fact that he put it up there as opposed to in there make it a worse crime?
You are playing fast and loose with facts: a psychiatric evaluation is NOT prison time. Additionally, as you point out he IS a fugitive from justice and he has yet to serve any penalty for that as well.
But hey, you LOVE Chinatown so we can let this slide, right?
What a dumb statement. Equating raping a child to a “brain fart.” He raped a little girl. What kind of dipshit defends that behavior? Idiot.
@ anotherwgamember -
It’s you who doesn’t know what you’re talking about. Plea bargains are still done all over the country and in LA – BUT – the adjudicating judge has ever right to turn it down – at which time the defendant can rescind their guilty plea if they don’t like the final sentence.
You know, it really frosts those of us who know the case and refuse to be swayed by one more biased, BS Sundance HBO flick.
The facts are this – there is Grand Jury testimony that has never been refuted by anyone, not Polanski and not the victim (well, Polanski in his testimony said that he continued despite the 13 year old’s protest because in as he stated “she was not unresponsive” – which is probably the most disgusting of all his rationalizations for the crime), he never went all the way through his trial, skipped the sentencing despite BECAUSE he had been made aware of the fact that he could quite possibly be sentanced to time in prison.
HE HAS NEVER SERVED HIS TIME – HE FLED BEFORE SENTENCING!!!!!
It’s typical of a WGA member to not know what they’re talking about. But in this case please keep your yap shut and let us all assume your an idiot, instead of posting nonsense so we all know for sure.
He was not double crossed by the Judge – he knew they Judge could reject the plea. And guess what – if the Judge refused the deadl…Polanski could WITHDRAW HIS GUILTY PLEA. That’s how the law works. The Judge could not simply impose a sentence without allowing him to redraw his plea. Bottom line – 42 days for psyc evaluation is not “time” for rape. Rape!
Yes, it was legal for the DA to make his recommendation. But it was also perfectly legal for the judge to ignore that recommendation and sentence Polanski as he saw fit to do (as long as it was within the parameters of what the crime merited). This in no way constitutes a double cross. If Polanski was not satisfied with this, then it was within his right to rescind his guilty plea and face trial. Instead he chose to become a fugitive.
Got to jump on the bandwagon here, anotherwgamember. You are way off on the law. In 1978, the sentencing guidelines for the crime to which Mr. Polanski PLED GUILTY was 5 to 8 years. He did this and admitted to having sex with a 13 year old in open court to aovid the harsher 25 year possible sentence that involved sodomy, giving drugs to a minor, etc. That was a choice that he made because the DA and his attorney (well paid, very good attorneys) worked out a deal that they were recommeding time served. Legally, the judge makes the final decision and is not part of that process. I don’t see any miscarriage of justice if the judge had ordered jail time for what Mr. Polanski did but we will never because Mr. Polanski decided to commit another crime by fleeing the jurisdiction. This ludicrous idea that he was railroaded, that the judge was acting illegally or that he had served his time is a Hollywood fiction and is not borne out by any of the facts.
You missed a point of law, I am afraid. A plea bargain is a gentleman’s agreement between the DA and the defense. In essence, the defendant agrees to plea guilty in exhange for the DA asking thr judge to consider a lighter sentence. The judge is not legally bound to accept the terms of the plea.
Also, until the sentence is passed, a trial is not over. Until the trial is over, no punishment is issued. So Mr. Polanski, who skipped out 42 days into a 90 day psych eval ordered by the judge prior to sentencing, has never been sentenced nor punished for his crime. He should therefore return to the US and allow this trial to end.
I agree. This is appalling. What are these people thinking? He raped a 13 y.o. child. From the linked article above, “according to the victim’s grand jury testimony, Roman Polanski instructed her to get into a jacuzzi naked, refused to take her home when she begged to go, began kissing her even though she said no and asked him to stop; performed cunnilingus on her as she said no and asked him to stop; put his penis in her vagina as she said no and asked him to stop; asked if he could penetrate her anally, to which she replied, “No,” then went ahead and did it anyway, until he had an orgasm.”
Last time I checked, the court of public opinion counts for exactly jack s**t when it comes to legal matters.
Read the transcript of the plea deal. The judge promised him nothing and Polanski acknowledged that he understood this:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0928091polanskiplea8.html
“Do you understand that at this time, the Court has not made any decision as to what sentence you will receive?
Polanski: No response.
“Do you understand that the Judge has not made any decision?
Polanski: Yes
“Further, do you realize that this Court will not make any decision regarding probation and sentence unitl after it has read and considered the report….
Polanski: Yes
I agree. This petition is preposterous. He is a rapist and a fugitive.
Where do I email to sign the petition?
try sending it to the sanitation department, Harris.
He raped a 13-year-old girl.
Hollywood’s ok with that? Guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
Whatever you do in your emails of support, do not mention that HE DRUGGED AND RAPED A CHILD. “Hasn’t he suffered enough?”
I’ve also seen news stories where they said “he had sex with a child” or “minor”. Let’s keep that language clean of anything that sounds awful. Makes me sick to my stomach.
Yes, let us save the child rapist from punishment because he makes movies.
Like so many hangovers from the 70’s: watergate, vietnam – this case has a generational component to it. It you are under 35 (which I’m sure many in the prosecutor’s office are) you did not experience the loosey-goosey 1970’s that so many of these Polanski apologists experienced.
People under 35 grew up in an era where they were told: NO MEANS NO, drugs are bad, sex can kill you. They also experience a world with zero tolerance: corporate drug tests, teens prosecuted for statutory rape when having sex with each other, very real consequences for what might have been considered “youthful transgressions” of the past.
The rules have changed for the generation that is taking over the reigns in America – these Hollywood dinosaurs may not realize it yet, but they have.
Thank you, Meg! It’s really true. I grew up in the 1970’s and they didn’t call it the ‘Me’ Generation for nothing. I really can’t believe that the so-called movers-and-shakers of this industry are pulling rank to support a man who raped a child. It boggles the mind. Woody Allen signing the petition, with no sense of irony? The wonk-eyed, Paleolithic Harvey Weinstein, a man who doesn’t even wash his hands after a pee, speaking for ‘us’? If Hollywood thought our economic troubles were half-over, this petition is going to bite them right in their middle-aged, denial-loving wallets. The lack of respect and concern shown to the victim of a sexual assault is disgusting. I’m glad I’m out of work right now and don’t have to hear this shiite at the watercooler all day.
Justice is blind. It shouldn’t do special favors for the rich, the famous, or the talented. What Polanski did to that girl was perverted,sick,and despicable. Justice needs to be served at long last. Anyone who would sign that petition is either sadly uniformed or amoral pond scum.
“Justice is blind. It shouldn’t do special favors for the rich, the famous, or the talented.”
Or Catholic priests. But they’re still on the loose, with the Pope covering for them. (Check out their history in Ireland if you’re not appalled enough.)
yes to the first two comments above. yes to the guardian uk for starting to publish the list of supporters (Woody Allen, David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, Michael Mann, Wim Wenders, Pedro Almodóvar, Darren Aronofsky, Terry Gilliam, Julian Schnabel, the Dardenne brothers, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Wong Kar-Wai, Walter Salles, Jonathan Demme, Tilda Swinton, Monica Bellucci, Asia Argento, Harvey Weinstein). and yes to hoping they all get a chance to visit their dear friend in a california state prison where he will soon be serving his much deserved time. hopefully he will be out just in time for the next award season, too.
Not impressed with the famous filmmakers on the list. Most have personal lives that cross boundaries and hurt people. First do no harm.
Bunch of sick fucks.
If Michael Vick had to serve time for mistreating dogs, this A-hole should serve his time for drugging and sodomizing a child.
Absolutely correct.
Polanski should not have fled the country.
He raped a 13-year-old girl.
It could be anyone’s daughter.
That said, the District Attorney should have probably let this extradition request disappear. The victim and the perp came to some sort of “settlement.” As far as she is concerned it is time to let it rest.
She is more forgiving than I would be.
The sad thing is that people are much more willing to excuse indiscretions against animals than against humans. How many people would balk at giving cash to some charity for starving Africans, but would willingly give everything to help save a terrier?
When I looked at the list of supporters, I had to chuckle when I saw Weinstein. Man, does that guy love backing the dead horse in every race or what!
And the best child rapist award goes to…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-seitzman/and-the-best-child-rapist_b_302249.html?page=4&show_comment_id=31822632#comment_31822632
I couldn’t agree more! It kills me how our country gives people more jail time for smoking pot than it does for someone sexually assaulting a child! We should value children above animals, and plants.
Do these people really think that if the entire Academy of Motion Pictures signed the petition it would convinced the DA’s office to stop their prosecution? “Wanted & Desired” was probably the worst thing to happen to Polanski b/c it made him overconfident and riled up the prosecutors. I hope he gets whats coming to him, but these “supporters” are idiots if they think they are helping his cause.
This issue, more than anything, displays the absolute depravity Hollywood has become – and making excuses for a child predator is beyond disgusting. I hope now the American public will now see how completely unnecessary it is to consider the opinions of these celebrity idiots.
I can’t think of a more egregious example of Hollywood being out of step with public opinion than this (maybe Ishtar?). Seriously, the man is a fugitive from justice, and needs to be brought to heel for his heinous crime.
PS The recent documentary was NOT impartial; it was a highly skewed, pro-Polanski love letter, and anyone who takes its lies at face value is a dupe.
really Hollywood? This is your political cause? health care reform…. and freeing a man who drugged and anally raped a 13 year old?
Woody Allen, David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, Michael Mann, Wim Wenders, Pedro Almodóvar, Darren Aronofsky, Terry Gilliam, Julian Schnabel, the Dardenne brothers, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Wong Kar-Wai, Walter Salles, Jonathan Demme, Tilda Swinton, Monica Bellucci, Asia Argento, Harvey Weinstein, Debra Winger… WTF?
Sign the petition and just maybe you’ll get the chance to be part of Polanski’s next film if he walks. It’s an opportunity too good to pass up. Right!?
Please, folks. Polanski may have ass-raped a child, but he bruises easily.
I can not even find the words to describe how disgusted I am by those signing the petition. I assume they’re fighting questionable constitutional fringe areas like lifelong sex offender registration as well – oh, wait. It’s Hollywood. Headlines aren’t involved so I don’t give a rat’s ass.
Pathetic.
Simply as an academic question, I have to wonder what type of award Ms. Winger would want to bestow on Mr. Polanski if it were HER 13 year old daughter that had been drugged and raped?
This very existence of this petition fuels the image of Hollywood as out-of-touch narcissists worshiping a golden idol in their own image. Is morality and a respect for law some outdated, quaint notion from another time?
Here is the list of names signing the petition:
1. Woody Allen
2. Woody Allen’s stepdaughter/wife
3. Fatty Arbuckle
If I make a movie you like, can I come over to drug and rape your daughter?
I can’t help but wonder what kind of response you would receive from some of the people who have already signed this absurd petition if this had happened to their 13 year old daughter. I look at some of those names and would expect a full on war to apprehend and sentence the rapist. I can’t imagine the case just going away because the man in fault was a talented filmmaker or because the victim wanted it to go away. The girl was a child and said no, more than once. This petition is ridiculous. The victim 100% testified she was raped and drugged. Just because its been years and the man won an Oscar, has some fancy friends – we should give him a pass? What are these people thinking? If one of their kids were molested, their wife, a family member…they might be signing something different… perhaps documents with the toughest, meanest lawyers in town or maybe hiring a mercenary… Makes my stomach turn.
Agrees with Anonymous.
If it were a Catholic priest who molested a child do you think they would be signing a petition to free Polanski?
I doubt it.
Hollywood is so hyprocrytical sometimes. I just don’t get them.
But it is good to hear that at least 1/2 the people in France are for him being extrodited and returned to the USA to go to jail if need be, and the govt of France is rethinking their support of him.
I think too many people who support Polanski did not read the transcript of what really happend. And now that the trial transcript has been released on the internet people are reading it, and they are getting a better idea of what really happen.. not of what Mr. Polanski or his PR people want you to believe.
We have the rule of law in the USA. He commited and admitted to a crime. He should be punished. And as he jumped bail, and has been gone for 30 yrs, he should be given the max. sentance of Jail time allowed.
Where is the one we sign to make sure he doesn’t get away?
I’m really confused by this strange logic people seem to be using. Well, he successfully avoided jail for 30 years, so we just let him go now. Is this like a game show? He evades for long enough so that means he wins?
Polanski’s main contention for why he ran was that the judge was dishonest. Uhhhh, okaaaay. The judge is dead now. So you can come back and get a fair trial right?
Good analysis from commenter Meg (”this case has a generational component to it”).
In the meantime, “Welcome back to L.A., Roman. Some things have changed while you were away…”
Vick didn’t “mistreat” dogs, he tortured them.
Funny, I never saw this kind of petition when Victor Salva was sent to jail for molesting 12 year old-boys. But then again, Salva isn’t nearly as talented as Polanski, so I guess that’s okay.
For the life of me, I don’t understand how anyone with half a brain would sign a class justice-fostering petition like this. Publicly expressing your support for a sexual predator… Good Lord. I’d expect this sort of lily-livered behavior from the likes of ‘holier-than-thou-arthouse-favorites’ like Schnabel, Argento, Wenders and Salles. But Scorsese? Aronosfky? I thought you’d know better.
Brilliant!!!
If this were a petition for clemency from the judge then ok, it would be an acceptable action to take if you genuinely believe his past sufferings, alleged judicial misisconduct, the victims own wishes etc etc mean he shouldn’t be punished more than the 45 days he has already served. But its not. In my opinion anybody who signs this is essentially stating that a rapist should not have to face justice and account for the crimes he committed because he is a great artiste. How can that be right?
And he is a rapist. He was 42, she was 13 & he knew it. He got her alone in a house, took semi-nude pictures of her, gave her drugs & alcohol & then had sex with her. The only contested fact is whenther she said no at the end of all that. How can that be anything other than repugnant & morally indefensible I do not know. Unless of course we believe that children who do not say no to their abusers are really complicit and so its not a crime?
I agree completely. But for argument’s sake, and to take the position of some of his advocates (misguided though they may be) let’s just say that he had no idea she was underage. If you brought an adult woman to a house alone for a photoshoot, loaded her up with booze and quaaludes, then ignored her as she repeatedly said no and asked to be taken home (despite how insensible you had tried to make her), in this country we’d still call that rape. The fact that she was 13 just makes it far, far worse.
Another popular defense for Polanski is that he was psychologically tested and wasn’t really a pedophile and never reoffended. Am I crazy, or do I remember him having a “relationship” (let’s face it, with her age you can’t really call it that) with Nastassja Kinski when she was only 15? That’s enough of a pattern to at least say there’s some counseling needed, right?
Every defense people bring up just doesn’t hold water. It’s rationalization to defend someone whose professional work they admire. They need to separate the man from the work and acknowledge that good artists can do bad things, and when they do they need to pay for them.
Thanks for the connection to the court documents. Everyone should read those before posting any opinion about Polanski. How can you justify supporting a pervert like him?
Not much to add to the comments above. Anyone signing this petition is a scumbag. Where was the ‘artistic community’ when Theo Van Gogh was murdered for making a movie critical of islam?
Whoopi Goldberg may take the cake for saying on the View that this wasn’t “rape rape”. Thanks for clearing that up, jackass.
Yes, he had a hard life, but lots of holocaust survivors didn’t rape 13-year olds. People who’ve had their wives murdered didn’t go on to rape 13-year olds. No excuses, he could and probably did have sex with anyone he wanted, which makes this rape even worse.
Ah, but how many Holocaust survivors have ALSO had their wives killed?
And by Charles Manson at that?
A gifted filmmaker? Perhaps. A predator and rapist? Definitely. Off to jail with him.
Obviously Polanski didn’t do everything he was required to do under the law since he FLED THE COUNTRY *before* being sentenced. He wouldn’t be a FUGITIVE if he’d done everything he was supposed to do.
If Polanski felt the judge was going to double-cross him, he should do what everyone else has to do when they feel mistreated by the system: fight it FROM THEIR JAIL CELL if necessary.
Being a talented artist doesn’t make you above the law, no matter how much you may have suffered in your lifetime.
Polanski needs to come back and face this. If he’d done that in the 70’s, then this would all be behind him today.
Send his perverted, nasty arse to the pokey!! Do the time child molester.
Ah yes feel sorry for the rapist. What kind of world do we live in? This man has lived in luxury for over 30 years, he needs to spend the rest of his life in prison.
Is anyone surprised Woody Allen would be supportive of having sex with minors?
Yes, let’s make this ALL ABOUT Roman Polanski…Come on, people. The victim has publicly stated that she wants to move on with her life, so can we respect THAT? So tired of reading about how RP is a perv, should do time, blah blah blah. Yeah, he should have. Yes, I agree he is absolutely despicable for what he did. But let’s take a second and think about the other parties involved and respect the victim’s wishes and NOT make it about RP, the police, the legal system, Mike Vick and whatever everyone else is talking about..OJ, whoever.
You mean the victim that received a substantial financial payment? The one who was 13 when this happened and therefore was incapable of consent? That victim. By the way, she is also not the victim in the new charges of fleeing prosection – that would be the People of the State of California and clearly we are not ok with it.
I don’t think in this case it is about what the victim wishes. Who knows what her frame of mind is, and how it was shaped by the crime, and the world she subsequently grew up in. Further, regardless of the victims wishes the perpetrator has to face the consequences of his admitted crime. If he pulled out a gun in a mall, shot a few people, and they said he should go free, does that mean the shooter should walk? Of course it doesn’t. He committed a heinous felony crime, and it is the state and people who sit on a jury who should decide his fate, and not the victim. The victims wishes should perhaps be taken into consideration at sentencing, but should not be the overarching deciding factor as his fate.
How has Polanski “received his punishment and served his time”? He fled the country, in order to escape punishment. Why is it OK for Polanski to flee, but the “creative” types aren’t making the same kind of arguments on behalf of the thousands of other felons who flee each year?
Boycott every film with which these reprobates are involved. It is not okay to rape anyone much less a 13 year old child and it is disgraceful to suggest otherwise as Woody Allen, David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, Michael Mann, Wim Wenders, Pedro Almodóvar, Darren Aronofsky, Terry Gilliam, Julian Schnabel, the Dardenne brothers, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Wong Kar-Wai, Walter Salles, Jonathan Demme, Tilda Swinton, Monica Bellucci, Asia Argento and Harvey Weinstein are doing.
Disgusting human beings!
Hey Disgusting Pigs – Enjoy your Hannah Montana movies. Oh wait. Miley pole-danced at an awards show just recently. Better yet, turn off the TV and just read your Bible. Oh wait. The Song of Solomon has some pretty strong sexual content. Are you reading this on your computer? Do you know all the graphic content you can get with a few clicks of your mouse??? You should outfit yourself with one of those Tommy deaf dumb & blind kits.
Thank you for posting the names of those signing the petition.
I will boycott, like I boycott woody allen movies.
David Heyman (of harry Potter films) as well as Alfonso Curzon was on the Free Polanski peition list as well. they are amonst my favorite people, but I will boycott unless they retract their support. Because it is wrong to support a pedophile.
What’s wrong with these people? Are they crazy nuts for supporting a pedophile? People forget Polanski hooked up with (14-15 ) yr. old Nataski Kinski after he fled to France.
Sharon Tate was just a girl when he initially hooked up with her as well.
Does anyone see a “pattern” developing here regarding Mr. Polanski?
Why has the name of the email writer been redacted? Obviously this person wants all the names to be made public. It’s not a secret petition, is it?
Perhaps everyone who signs the petition will support Roman by sending their teenage daughters and grand-daughters for conjugal visits. He is a great film-maker after all.
The rest of these moral reprobates are surprising, but Martin Scorsese? Shame.
“An artist creates his own moral universe.”
“Polanski received his punishment and served his time”
Is that a fucking joke? He’s a RAPIST. Shut up, Hollywood. I have never been so disgusted and so ashamed to be part of this community.
His own lawyers, with his arrogant attempt to circumvent the fact that he fled the jurisdiction by overturning his conviction in absentia, brought this on. It would have been moribund if he hadn’t paid lawyers to revive it all. And to add to that arrogance, he now enlists every flaky actor, director and producer he can muster calling in every “festival” and girl and boy party favor he has. This really disgustingly disconnected behavior. Martin Scorsese and the rest of them are as misguided as Ezra Pound. Artists should stay way from influencing real life and stick to imagination.
Completely agree with all of those in favour of the extradition (and yes, I am under 35!). If a 76-year-old priest, for instance, was arrested today for sexual abuse crimes committed 40 years ago, people would not say that sufficient time had passed for his crimes to be forgiven. He did something despicable and fled the consequences.
Priests ask to be held to a higher standard due to their position within with their religious organization. Filmmakers do not typically consider it their job to minister to their audience’s spiritual needs.
The Hollywooders response to this is as expected from a bunch of pedophile loving scum they are. Its almost unbelievable that you are so enamored of the moronic films this guy has made that you will allow him to get off scott free from raping a 13 year old girl. He admitted it you idiots. A Judge is allowed to accept or deny a plea bargain as he or she sees fit. Maybe the DA was bribed by Polanski for a deal. Hey I’ll put you in a movie or buy a script from you. Oh no that would bever happen would it. I was willing to forget the whole thing but now that the hollywooders have reared their hypocritical side again I am for dragging this guy back kicking and screaming into court and throwing the book at him. I find it amusing that hollywooders will make a movie about pedophile priests but don’t make one about their own pedophie director. I am waiting in hopes that someone will decide to film the Polanski rape story and show how he lured the girl into his web though the “casting couch” or “photo-shoot” ruse. Lets see it all on the big screen as he raped her as she cried out “NOOOOO”.
We are talking about a fugitive child rapist here.
fugitive child rapist.
say it again.
fugitive. child rapist.
let it sink in.
ruminate here-
I’ll wait….
fugitive child rapist.
tell me again your excuses for this vile behavior.
FUGITIVE CHILD RAPIST.
that’s ok hollywood. now I know where you stand. I know where I stand. thanks for making yourselves known that you support a FUGITIVE CHILD RAPIST.
That you think that directors are above the law, that it’s ok to rufee, rape and sodomize little thirteen year old children. That includes little boys besides little girls. Because children are children.
And you want me to pay to see your movies?,- because making movies excuses a fugitive child rapist.
thanks for this-you make it so much easier for me to justify bit torrents and prolific downloading.
I think the people that signed this list should really think long and hard about what it means to support a FUGITVE CHILD RAPIST.
a little piece of humanity died inside every person with every signature… because by not punishing the actions of a fugitive child rapist- you are supporting this crime in our society.
Disgusting.
First, a general comment. Yes a judge is not bound to honor a plea bargain agreement, but the entire American criminal justice system relies on plea bargains. The judge was wrong.
Two, in March 77, six very serious counts were filed; by August, the DA had dropped all of them but one, sex with a minor. At the time DIE STERN published a fair amount of coverage on the girl, her background, etc., and it may have turned out that, during the 4 months in question, the DA came to realize that their case wasn’t nearly as strong as the initial complaint might have indicated. Just saying.
Three, Polanski wasn’t found guilty, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for a light sentence. There was no investigation, no attempt to find exculpatory evidence, no experts, no cross-examination, and no jury. No one actually knows what happened, except for the two participants. (This, by the way, was their second photo shoot; nude pictures were taken during the first; no complaints were filed.)
Four, Polanski wasn’t an American citizen but a French citizen; as such he was entitled to go back to his country, just as an American tourist in hot water in a foreign country might want to go back to the US rather than face a hostile foreign court. I might add that, rather than go through extradition, it would have been possible and easy to file a criminal complain in France and ask a French court to review the facts and impose a sentence according to French law, instead of asking them to send one of their own citizens to a foreign country, which was a DOA gesture. The fact that this was not done may possibly add to the theory that, despite the complaint, this was a weak case (see 2 above).
Five, although this has no bearing on the legalities of the case, I read that California is going to release 40,000 inmates over the next 2 years including sex offenders because of overcrowding and budget cuts. Under these circumstances, what would you be planning to do with a 75-year-old man?
If you commit a crime in a certain country, that country has jurisdiction to try the case. If an American citizen commits a crime abroad, then that case gets tried abroad. Simple.
If this case isn’t strong, and the judge in question is dead, then Polanski should have no problem returning to the US, withdrawing his guilty plea, and fighting the charge in court.
Of course, fleeing the country was illegal, so he’s probably looking at time for that, too.
Polanski created this entire situation by drugging and raping a child and then fleeing the country. He needs to be held accountable for his actions.
With all due respect you don’t know the law.
First and foremost, you cannot withdraw a plea.
Countries will extradite citizens from another country who have sought refuge there, but very rarely their own citizens. Polanski had the right to be tried in France, just as an American arrested in France would rather be tried in America. (In some cases the trial takes place in the other country but the sentence is according to the law of the country of citizenship and served there.)
You have no evidence to say that Polanski drugged and raped that girl; that wasn’t established in a court of law. He pleaded guilty to having unlawful sex with her; the other counts were dismissed. And no more than he can withdraw his plea, they cannot be refiled.
That is absolutely factually incorrect. A foreign citizen who commits a crime does not have a “right” to be tried in their home country. The laws may be different back home.
When you are on the state of California, you must follow California law. You don’t get to beat your wife if you’re from a country where sharia law is practiced. You don’t get to molest children if you’re from a country with a different age of consent. Etc.
On this single issue, this is a debate of fact. Your misguided opinion does not matter. Don’t argue or respond: there is no need. Look it up. Post an apology if you want.
The jurisdictional point Lupin makes is quite salient. How many Americans have committed all manner of heinous crimes abroad and then beat a hasty retreat to their mother country’s protective borders???
Now that the shoe is on the other foot….
Lupin’s second point is also strong. If the case against Polanski is so compelling, why didn’t LA county prosecutors take up the issue in the French courts? Surely even the French aren’t so sanguine about drugging a 13-year-old before having one’s way with her. They’ve only had, what, three decades to do something about this.
I also 100% agree with Lupin on the subject of judges honoring plea bargains. The courts are choked as it is. If no potential defendant could trust a plea bargain, the system would get busted from the caseload.
BTW I’ve taken a lot of shit for being perceived as defending Roman Polanski’s actions – I don’t – by arguing the real problem here is the judge who double-crossed Polanski for political reasons.
@ Nik -
I hate people like you who post nonsense and lies when there is already pleanty of evidence to prove you completely wrong. Oh, and since you seem to think adding numbers to your posts somehow makes them seem factual I’ll drop a few numbers on you.
1. There is Grand Jury testimony from both the victim and the perp – and no one has ever denied that he had sex with a 13 year old gilr which is indeed rape when it comes to a 13 year old.
2. Even Polanski admitted the girl originally said “no” but argued that she “was not unresponsive”
3. The reason the plea deal was adopted was because of the media circus around the trial and the fact that the Mother and Daughter in the case indicated that they were reluctant to go through with the trial – the DA followed those instructions and worked towards a plea deal. Sorry, but in this country we don’t really give a darn about the background of a 13 year old girl who is drugged and raped by 40 year old men. We find it disgusting even if the 13 year old girl is painted as a Lolita by the perp’s defense attorneys. Guess we’re just a little prudish about 40 year old men having sex with children.
Oh, and by the way – a slanted BS Sundance movie doesn’t make something true – especially one that convienetly ignores things like the TESTIMONY OF THE TWO PEOPLE WHO WERE THERE AT THE TIME!!!!!
The only really important thing you said in your entire post is that Roman Polanski pled guilty.
He pled guilty to having sex with a 13 year old girl, a child, while she was begging him to stop.
He’s a sick bastard and so is anyone who supports him.
Lets see – releasing 40k inmates on charges certainly less serious than child rape, and then making room for a child rapist. Makes sense to me. Pretty fair if it were your daughter I’ll bet.
Really? This is the cause that the list of “supporters” want to take up? Roman Polanski has been crying for years to come back to the United States. Well Roman Polanski, here’s your chance…MAN UP and get back here and take responsibility for your actions; choices you, and only you, made so many years ago. You created all of this with your actions that night. You have no one to blame but yourself. This does not exist without you. Bring your sense of entitlement back here and take your punishment and allow your “supporters” to get back to their entitled lives.
Roman Polanski is the true victim.
He has been framed by mother&daughter.
Now the corrupt American system wants to destroy him.
Luckily Europeans are smarter.
whoopi says it wasnt rape rape.
I spoke of this when all of the MJ opposers came out of the word works. Polanski is a rapist and child molester. Nikki, there is no need to post this petition. To give a child molester and rapist media space is almost as wrong as the crime itself. May he rot like the rest of them!
This is why people hate Hollywood and think Los Angeles should be burned to the ground. He drugged, raped and sodomized a thirteen-year-old girl. He was charged with multiple felonies but under the plea agreement he bargained them down to one misdemeanor. But rather than even take his punishment for that, he fled the country.
And yet the so-called “creative community” is comparing him to Jean Valjean? What a freaking joke.
It pure and simple. He broke the law twice. First for Rape and then second by jumping bail and leaving the country. Both of these offensives have Consequenses! Regardless of his accomplishment he committed a crime and needs to be held accountable.
Who do I have to drug and rape to get my Lifetime Achievement Award? I’ve drugged and raped no one and yet all I have is a Razzie nomnination. Please advise.
I just wonder how many would sign the petition if he were a priest instead of a filmmaker?
I am saddened by the Hollywood Folks signing this petition, especially the women. He drugged and raped a child. Do these petitioners not have wives, sisters and daughters? By signing this petition it’s showing our youth that rape is not a serious crime. I hardly think a life of luxury in France counts as punishment for Polanski’s crimes.
Every dimwit who signs this petition should be thrown in jail with Polanski they should all be charged with aiding and abetting and as accessories after the fact. None of them have any morals it was obvious before and it’s even more obvious now. Harvey Weinstein, Woody Allen, Debra Winger and all the rest of the limousine liberals. At least we will soon have a comprehensive list of every immoral asshole in showbiz. They should all be blacklisted I mean it nobody should do any business with anyone who signs this disgusting disgraceful petition. Where are your morals? You are defending a man who raped a 13 year old girl what if that girl had been your daughter? How can Harrison Ford support Roman? Ford should be ashamed he enjoyed working with Roman on “Frantic” and he posed for pictures with him same for Brett Ratner and every other showbiz asshole. I’ll bet my salary that Spielberg won’t sign this petition he might be the only person with ethics and morals.
woody allen signed this petition???? gee, i’m sure that comes as shocking news to mia farrow! i hope they put this pedophile rapist in the same state prison as manson….and yes, i do recognize the connection and still think it would be fitting.
For those who saw “Polanski: Wanted & Desired” – yes, there’s a strong case for the judge seeking the Hollywood limelight, no doubt.
However, to ignore the drugging and sodomizing of a minor, forgetting the personalities, awards and 70s generation is ignorant.
I think the filmmakers who have come out in favor of freeing Polanski should see beyond the film. They’re romanticizing the 70s “easy rider” mentality. Holdover example: Beatty hit on my daughter at a Madonna show, back during his Dick Tracy days.
Nowadays however, it’s how much blow and prostitutes you can bring to the set. Much less romantic than staying at Nicolson’s house AND DRUGGING YOUNG GIRLS FOR SEX.
Yes, Kubrick’s Lolita is a masterpiece as our many of Roman’s films, but that doesn’t make Polanski’s illegal promiscuity legal.
In the end, though, don’t all celebrities get off easy in our courts. Especially with a celebrity governor, which makes me wonder: WHAT DOES ARNIE THINK?
- A concerned filmmaker (and father)!
can they add a year of jail time for The Ninth Gate?
Can’t say that I’m at all surprised that Woody Allen signed this petition. Everybody else who did should take a good long look at what they have become. Roman Polanski drugged and raped a 13 year old girl. This wasn’t statutory rape that so many people like to wave their hand at as not really a crime. He drugged and then forced himself on a barely teenaged girl. He did so with absolute premeditation of the act.
The worst of it is that none of his Hollywood defenders are saying that the events didn’t happen. If there was some doubt about his guilt put forth by Polanski I’d say he deserved the benefit of the doubt. But he hasn’t denied anything. He simply thinks that the proper punishment for drugging and raping a 13 year old girl is not be allowed to come back to America.
It makes my head spin that celebrities (actually, that anyone at all) can look at what Polanski did and say, “Yeah, that’s fine. I should associate myself with that guy. I have no problem with that at all.”
Polanski is a pedophile. The average pedophile abuses more than 200 children before getting caught. This likely wasn’t just ONE incident, and it likely won’t be the last one.
The Hollywood community has a HUGE problem with pedophilia. Because of the unusual relationship between children and their employers, children in the industry are particularly at risk. Did you know that adults working with children in the industry do not even have to pass a background check, as they would for any other kid-centric job? It is not illegal for a registered sex offender to work with child actors. Believe me, the pedophiles are aware of the lack of regulation in Hollywood.
In the last few years there have been SEVERAL arrests and convictions of men working in the industry. Ex. Josh Werkman (the manager of the Sprouse twins who was convicted of molestation of a boy), James Barbour (Broadway actor who was convicted of raping a girl), Tommy Lowery (publicist who transported child actors across state lines for sex), Don Munro (Canadian studio teacher who abused boys while out on bail for prior child sex abuse convictions). Manager/publicist Bob Villard was convicted of porn and sex abuse of a boy actor, and he will be back in Hollywood very soon as he is released from jail. There are more…many more.
My point? Hollywood as a community does nothing to protect children. Predators are accepted as “just eccentric” or “just gay”. Even when children and their parents speak up about their abuse, they are accused of gold-digging, searching for fame, etc. Prosecutors tell parents that “they asked for it” because they allowed their children to work in the industry. The studios cover it up and make sure the child knows that their career will be damaged if they ever talk about it.
The Polanski situation is disgusting. but anyone who signs the petition is even more disgusting. I hope every one of those people is haunted by the faces of innocent children who were abused in the name of “art”. I hope the next charity event those star names attend for green living, international AIDS or whatever…I hope they think about the children in their own working community and how they abandoned them by signing that petition.
Art is not an excuse for child abuse. Gifted people do criminal things. Polanski needs to go to jail and serve his sentence. He needs to be on the list of registered sex offenders. Then Hollywood needs to blacklist him.
To all those who wonder why a bunch of Hell Hay residents would want to let a child rapist go free, I would you not waste your time. “Forget it Jake. It’s Tinsel Town.” Time to dig a moat around the whole bunch and pull up the draw bridge.
Enlightening, isn’t it, that Hollywood can be up in arms regarding the arrest of an admitted rapist and fugitive – because he made profitable movies – and that same bleeding-heart contingent can sit back and DO NOTHING when the lives of INNOCENT 80, 90 & 100-year-olds are being decimated by the indefensible betrayal that the MPTF is perpetrating on the community.
The proposed closure of the Motion Picture & Television Hospital and Nursing Home is a different kind of “rape”. Defenseless elderly are being f**ked against their will by the MPTF.
Visit “savingthelivesofourown.org” website and SIGN A PETITION that supports the frail and elderly industry veterans who spent their lives behind-the-scenes. Their only “award” was the “We Take Care of Our Own” promise that there would be a place for them to be cared for with dignity.
“Polanski received his punishment and served his time…”
Really? He served 45 days while undergoing psychiatric evaluation. That is hardly punishment for the rape of a child. Neither is going about one’s life — getting married, having children, winning awards, pursuing his livelihood — while dealing with certain limitations on his international travel.
If this guy was a Catholic priest and his victims were boys — we’d see Polanski for what he is. A criminal who has been protected by the institution he works within.
This is no different from all the high-powered Washington insiders saying that we shouldn’t investigate Bush administration war crimes… or the high-powered bankers saying that we shouldn’t impose stricter regulations as a result of the financial meltdown. Powerful people always want to ensure that their peers are spared punishment.
Their argument is inevitably, “You don’t understand it if you’re not one of us.” Well, I’m glad I don’t understand why anyone thinks that a man proven guilty of raping a child should go free.
And Hollywood wonders why people think they are out of touch…
He RAPED A CHILD. No one should be signing this petition.
“This is a man who I love a lot and know a little bit,” Mr. Besson said in a radio interview with RTL Soir. “Our daughters are good friends. But there is one justice, and that should be the same for everyone. I will let justice happen.” He added, , “I don’t have any opinion on this, but I have a daughter, 13 years old. And if she was violated, nothing would be the same, even 30 years later.”
From the NYT article http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/movies/30polanski.html?hp
Please note, that many in Hollywood do NOT support admitted pedophiles and rapists.
Talk about a bunch of clueless people. He admitted to the charges. She was only 13 years old at the time. It was illegal then it’s illegal now. He ran from the law for decades. It’s about time he paid for doing his crime he confessed to. Shame on his supporters I’ll be sure never to spend another dime on their products. I welcome this list of those who think what he did was OK. Let the boycott begin.
I used to work in the film industry and now I’m a prosecutor. I’m also over 35, love movies, love most of Polanski’s work, and have no problem with actors/directors/producers/writers getting involved in politics. But this is insane.
The facts in this case are clear. Polanski lured a child to his friend’s house by ruse, drugged her, raped her, sodomized her, plead guilty, and then fled. As with all plea deals between defendant and prosecutor, the judge was not bound to honor it, and Polanski was explicitly made aware of that fact before he plead guilty. Furthermore, having plead guilty, it doesn’t matter how many years he’s been on the run; the plea stands. Polanski, brilliant artist though he is, raped a child. He’s enjoyed his freedom for thirty years. It’s time he did his time.
I say it’s okay! Where do I sign?
If Hollywood wants to legalize rape, they should just be open about it. And not pretend it’s about supporting Polanski.
Women of Hollywood….and Whoopie Goldberg TOO!!
You are outraged that Erin Andrews was secretly videotaped by a pervert!! And right you are.
BUT you excuse the drugging and rape of a 13 year old child.
What the fuck is wrong with you.
I hope it never happened to you. And if by some chance you have a daughter or son I would hope YOU hope it will never happen to them.
You are a sick bunch.
I’ve heard comments from the entertainment community… “It’s wasn’t rape-rape.”
Excuse me Whoopi, your ignorance is disgraceful. I guess NO, doesn’t mean NO either. Thank you for turning back the clock 50yrs for women.
Turn in your WOMAN card now, we don’t feel you deserve it.
It’s really amazing how the hollywood “elite” are deciding justice for a pedophile! I’m glad aa has a list of a few supporters for this mind-boggling petition, is there a way to get all the names? Can we start a petition to have actors stay out of the law?
If I get a speeding ticket and fail to appear they’ll issue a bench warrant for me with a bail amount of $10,000. $10k for a speeding ticket, that sounds excessive – it is, but it’s the law.
I know lots of people who were adults during the 70’s. While they did some crazy shit, none of them “had sex with” a 13-year old.
Truth is, he’s a fugitive and should be treated as such and given his day in court. If he gets the right judge in the rotation, he may get a suspended sentence or something one might consider lenient. If he gets the wrong judge, he might get real time which means he might get to reenact a scene from ‘Oz’.
The good thing is that he’s already had his trial and we won’t have to go through the an 18-month ordeal regarding the facts of the case.
I never thought I’d say this: The LAPD… They Always Get Their Man!
As long as he’s not OJ Simpson or Robert Blake or Michael Jackson or……
He ALLEGEDLY did not have her consent, and allegedly orally, and anally raped her. He only plead guilty to sleeping with her. He never admitted to the rest of it and in fact denied it in his book.
I tend to believe the rape victim, but none of that has been proven. And will be impossible to prove at this late date.
The filmmakers believe their old friend’s side of it — that he had consent — and made the moral lapse of sleeping with someone underage. And they believe that the judge, caught up in the spotlight, was going to give him the full fifty-year sentence for this “lapse” even after he only agreed to any guilt in return for a light sentence. Also, the victim’s family was only asking at the time for an apology and that he go to counseling — and not that he go to jail. Thus, bolstering the filmmakers view that it wasn’t so bad.
I think a 44-year-old man sleeping with a 13 year-old with or without her consent is quite bad and he should go to jail. But at this late date, proving he did any of the terrible things in the grand jury testimony will be tough (not sure you can even prove he knew her real age.)
Her testimony clearly indicates that she did not “consent” to sex, but that’s irrelevant because it’s legally impossible for a 13 year old to consent to sex with a 40 year old man.
Right. It’s HER testimony. It was never proved in court and he did not plead guilty to those alleged facts.
Again, I tend to believe women (or in this case, a child) who makes such allegations. But he is innocent until proven guilty in our system.
Polanski admits he slept with her, and he says it was consensual. That is what his friend’s have chosen to believe. They seem to be willing to overlook the fact that she was underage, and think of it as not all that bad. I don’t agree.
He admitted to knowing her age in court documents
sourse
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0928091polanskiplea1.html
Here’s the deal. I’ve been a victim of crime, so let me explain. Polanski got his plea. The judge did nothing to change the plea. The plea was that he not be charged with rape. The plea meant that his distribution of illegal drugs to a minor would not be charged. They weren’t. The fact he was in possession of illegal substances with intent to distribute would also not be charged. The violent predicate of the crime was also not charged. He agreed to a lesser charge.
He was facing sentencing. The prosecution made a RECOMMENDATION as to sentencing, and the judge didn’t like it and was unfortunately too open about not liking it. Probabtion it seemed to him, was completely skirting the law.
He was free to sentence Polanski to the maximum time allowed under the crime he pled guilty to, and he was prepared to do that. A judge is in NO WAY required to go along with a sentencing recommendation. Him choosing not to happens ALL THE TIME. It happened in the case I was in, in which one defendent was given more leniency then we asked for, and another was given more time then asked for because of outside circumstances.
Polanski committed the crime. He pled to a guilty on a specific charge. He was unwilling to do the maximum potential time on that charge.
As far as I’m concerned, he’s lucky this is all he’s facing and the prosecutor then dropped other equally serious charges.
Go ahead, try being anything but a rich, white artistic fop and get away with this today. Hell, try to be a celebrity today and do this. Think there is anyone in Hollywood with clout to rape & drug a 13 year old and not be stalked by TMZ/lurkers/everyone else and berated daily as calls for their head roared?
Don’t think so. Let the scumbag do time.
Sorry, Hollywood, but you’re so far to the left here, you’ve left America. And I’m a Democrat. He’s a pedophile. He was going to prison so like a coward, he fled. There is some serious misguidedness going on around here. You do know you’re playing into the extreme, insurrectionist far right’s hands, right? He’s a rapist, and that’s what he always will be.
Every person on this list should close their eyes. Now picture a 13 year old girl… Picture your own daughter if you have one! They are so small at that age… Just a kid! Now imgaine a 42 year old man eating her out, fucking her, flipping her over, and fucking her up the ass! all while she was drugged with half closed eyes…That is what this freak did! Shame!
We don’t actually know that. It’s what she said happened. He says it was consensual — meaning she happily went along with it and none of it was against her will (and yes, she was too young to give consent under the law, but there’s a different between what he said happened and what she said happened.) He should have gone to jail either way, but one is much worse.
I tend to believe her but nothing beyond the fact he slept with her was proven in a court of law.
Defending the child-rapist… Real Classy, Hollywood! Real classy.
It’s a sad state the world is in when society accepts the notion of zero tolerance, in order to arrest a talented man who did something that shouldn’t even be considered a crime.
Rape becomes a word tossed around merely to create fear and paranoia, when it can’t be used to describe what was in fact consensual sexual activity, with a developing woman (not a child). Every little thing is condemned in order to maintain that level of paranoia.
So if you plead guilty to sex with a minor “RAPE,” run off to France, have sex with another underage girl, make a few films, do interviews and receive awards…. Your outstanding felony warrant should all be forgotten because …. remind me again ??? you’re an Artist?
People in Hollywad are as out of touch as people in Washington.
Are these people kidding? They have no scruples or compassion for a 13 year old. These same people who have bodyguards protecting THEIR KIDS!!!!
The dude’s a convicted child rapist and bail jumper. He should serve serious time. End of story.
Enlightening, isn’t it?
The arrest of an ADMITTED FUGITIVE RAPIST outrages high-profile, influential members of our industry and they rally to protest a perceived horrific injustice.
Where is the outrage for the fate of the FRAIL INNOCENT ELDERLY who are being f**cked against their will by the immoral, unconscionable decision to close the MPTF Nursing Home? Throwing defenseless people out of a home they were promised would be theirs for life is another form of rape.
Visit savingthelivesofourown.org and SIGN THE PETITION to prevent a true injustice.
Last I checked it isn’t 1988, this is not an action movie, and Roman Polasnki is not Steven Seagal… so why would anyone think he’s ABOVE THE LAW?
To anotherwgamember, you’re pathetic. Polanski forced himself on a 13 year old with drugs and alcohol and sodomized her against her will. He didn’t “cut a deal”. He’s an ill MFer who needs to be in jail having what he enjoyed forced upon him. He should die in prison just like the sick bitch who cut out his unborn child and drank his wife’s blood. 42 days of psyche eval wasn’t his sentence. Get real.
This is screwed up. He drugged and raped a child, and then fled justice. Why on earth would ANYBODY defend him? Yeah, he’s a talented filmmaker. He’s also a criminal who belongs in jail.
Mr. Polanski is the victim of this right-wing fascist country which is trying to impose Puritanical standards on all of us. Mr. Polanski has suffered enough, being forced to spend 30 years in exile rather than to submit himself to the corrupt and bigoted justice system. The Swiss government had many opportunities to arrest him before. Yet they didn’t. I wonder why that is. I am sure it is because Obama is pandering to the right wing who are killing him over his health care plan. Obama needs to stop this nonsense or else it will be clear to be that he is no different than Bush, who also had no concern for human rights and the rule of law. And besides, with a name like Polanski, who cares if we arrest the Polish guy right? No one in America does, because the white people in this country are nothing but racists and xenophobes.
Mr. Polanski should be released immediately.
Can you please explain what Obama has to do with the Los Angeles District Attorney?
Vinny, since when does the recent Polanski news have to do with the battle over health-care reform? Nothing.
For those people saying that Polanski should be released because “of a youthful error” are just deluded. He was 44 years old by the time the case broke out — so tell me, how is it youthful and how is it a “mistake”? Polanski did it willingly.
And while the case was indeed mishandled by a fame-seeking judge, two very different wrongs (the judge threatening the maximum penalty after a previously-agreed plea bargain vs. Polanski’s fleeing the U.S.) don’t make a right. He fled before sentencing, he should’ve served it in 1978 and moved on with his life.
I take it you believe he is innocent?
No, I don’t. Polanski is guilty, but fled before sentencing. But the late judge is also at fault too, for making it a media circus in 1978 in order to keep his name in the news.
Polanski should do the time, he admitted to it and should serve his time. His Hollywood friends need to realize that he has been on the wrong side of the U.S. law for 30 years — a good deal, if not most of his supporters have kids themselves, which saddens me more.
What are they going to say to their kids who question their support? “It’s all right, kids, it was 30 years ago and he’s done nothing wrong since then.” At least Luc Besson (one of Polanski’s friends) has the sense to not drink the “free Polanski” Kool-Aid Hollywood is drinking.
So basically if you’re a rich, white male director you can do anything you want, including drug and rape children, avoid punishment and all is forgiven?
WOW just WOW Hollywood has sunk to a new low.
I say cut his balls off, just like all the other perverts out there. Once a sex offender always a sex offender. Also anyone who defends sex offenders need to have their heads examined.
What is did was illegal and wrong, he should be punished for it plain and simple. What is wrong with these people? *shakes head*
harris kattleman are you serious? you are never sitting at my table again.
he is a rapist. like what happened to bernie madoff and the rest of the slugs of the world, i am confident, justice will prevail.
shame on anyone or corporation that signs the petition.
I did like The Pianist, but if my choice were the chance to view that movie or be deprived of it because the director was incarcerated for raping a child, well, I’d just watch Schindler’s List again.
I’m guessing Jean-luc Godard isn’t signing.