Film Academy expels Cosby, Polanski because of sexual offense convictions
LOS ANGELES — The organization that bestows the Academy Awards announced Thursday that it has voted to expel two prominent members convicted of sexual offenses, Bill Cosby and Roman Polanski, from its membership.
It’s the first major decision since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences implemented revised standards of conduct for its over 8,400 members following its expulsion of disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein in October. In Polanski’s case, the expulsion comes more than 40 years after he was accused of raping a 13-year-old girl he plied with champagne and Quaaludes during a photo shoot, and 15 years after he won a best director Oscar.
The academy wrote in a statement that its board of governors met Tuesday night and voted on Polanski and Cosby’s status in accordance with the new standards. Polanski’s membership dates to 1969, and Cosby’s to 1996.
‘Ethical standards’
Polanski, who won a best director Oscar for 2002’s “The Pianist,” remains a fugitive after pleading guilty to unlawful sex with a minor in 1977 and fleeing the United States the following year. Cosby was convicted last week of sexual assault in Pennsylvania, for drugging and molesting Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia mansion 14 years ago.
Representatives for Cosby and Polanski did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
In a statement, the film academy said its board “continues to encourage ethical standards that require members to uphold the Academy’s values of respect for human dignity.”
Adopted in December, the code of conduct stipulates the academy is no place for “people who abuse their status, power or influence in a manner that violates standards of decency.”
The academy’s board may now suspend or expel those who violate the code of conduct or who “compromise the integrity” of the academy.
Before Weinstein, only one person is thought to have been previously expelled from the academy: Carmine Caridi, a character actor who had his membership revoked in 2004 for lending DVD screeners of films in contention for Oscars that ended up online.
The film academy came under intense scrutiny following Weinstein’s expulsion and the rise of the #MeToo movement for some of its active members, like Cosby, Polanski and Mel Gibson. It even became late-night fodder for people like John Oliver. Because its members are not made public, occasionally incorrect assumptions are made about who are part of the organization. Woody Allen, for one, is not.
Polanski has been one of the more divisive members of the organization for years. At the 2003 ceremony, Polanski’s win — his first — received a standing ovation. He was not in attendance. He had previously been nominated for writing his adaptation of “Rosemary’s Baby,” and directing “Chinatown” and “Tess.”
‘A different world’
Prominent actors like Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly continued to work with him, and in 2009, when Polanski was arrested in Zurich and U.S. authorities attempted to extradite him, more than 100 celebrities signed a petition for his release, including Allen, Weinstein, Martin Scorsese, Darren Aronofsky, David Lynch, Penelope Cruz and Tilda Swinton.
Natalie Portman recently told BuzzFeed she regretted signing the petition.
“We lived in a different world, and that doesn’t excuse anything. But you can have your eyes opened and completely change the way you want to live,” Portman said. “My eyes were not open.”