‘Non merci!’ to Oscars academy invite

PARIS: Actress Emmanuelle Seigner yesterday rejected an invitation to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in a column in which she slammed the ‘‘hypocrisy’’ of a group that expelled her husband Roman Polanski two months ago.

Seigner, of France, is one of 928 artists and executives which the Academy, best known for giving the Oscars movie awards, last month invited to become members.

The Academy expelled Oscarwinning Polanski in May for violating a conduct code it had adopted following hundreds of accusations of sexual harassment or assault in the entertainment industry.

‘‘How can I ignore the fact that a few weeks ago the Academy expelled my husband, Roman Polanski, in an attempt to appease the zeitgeist — the very same Academy which in 2002 awarded him an Oscar for The Pianist! A curious case of amnesia!’’ Seigner said in the column published in France’s Le Journal du Dimanche.

PHOTO: REUTERS French actress Emmanuelle Seigner and director Roman Polanski pose together in Paris last year.