The Academy’s New Rule

It seems the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is settling on a standard of sorts: expelling convicted rapists. On Thursday, it announced that its board had ejected Bill Cosby and Roman Polanski “in accordance with the organization’s Standards of Conduct” and as part of a drive “to uphold the Academy’s values of respect and human dignity.”

We flagged the Polanski problem after the board kicked out Harvey Weinstein — who hasn’t been convicted, though he’s admitted to some of the accusations against him.

Polanski pleaded guilty to raping a 13-yearold girl in 1977, then fled the country rather than serve his sentence. He’s also been ac- cused of sexual misconduct by multiple women, including the molestation of a 10year-old girl during a photo shoot.

Yet Hollywood long embraced him, with multiple Oscar nominations and a standing ovation when he won Best Director in 2003.

Plainly, the board members realized they couldn’t expel Cosby — convicted last week on three counts of aggravated indecent assault, for a possible 30 years in prison — without bouncing their other rapist, too.

Even if they took just seven days to oust Cosby and 40 years to kick Polanski out.

Then again, they’re far from the only folks scrambling to re-examine their past conduct in the #MeToo era.