Rape of a minor, death of his wife and escape: the life of Roman Polanski

On February 28, Roman Polanski received the French film award "Cesar" as the best director for the film "Officer and Spy". After the announcement of the winner's name, several actresses left the hall in protest. The fact is that on the eve of the presentation of the statuettes, the cinematographer said that he would not come to the ceremony, because he did not want to be lynched.

We offer you to find out the main scandals in Polanski's life and find out why he is not loved in Hollywood.

It so happened that all Polanski's lovers were connected with cinema. He married for the first time in 1959 to the Polish actress Barbara Kwiatkowska. She became the first chosen one of the director, who got a role in his film. Their romance ended in1962. After that, Roman met Sharon Tate on the set of The Vampire Ball. All Hollywood was talking about the charming 24-year-old actress at that time.

No wonder she was noticed and Polanski. Their relationship was also widely discussed in the media. There were many rumors about the couple, including that Polanski allegedly dictated to his wife how to dress and make up, and also forced her to sexual games. Sharon's life seemed like a fairy tale, but soon the actress began to have strange dreams.

According to the girl, a dark figure entered the bedroom door and began "rushing around the room." Tate was terrified, jumped out of the room and ran down the stairs in her bathrobe. But suddenly she saw a man tied to the railing right in her path.

The actress tried not to remember nightmares and think about the good. Soon she found out that she was pregnant. The child of Sharon and Roman was supposed to be born in August 1969, but, unfortunately, this did not happen.

At the ninth month of pregnancy, the actress lived in their home in Los Angeles, and Polanski was finishing filming in London. While waiting for her husband, Tate decided to spend time with friends - Jay Sebring, Wojtek Frykowski and Abigail Folger. Later, the actress's sisters offered to visit her and pass the evening together, but Tate refused, because she had already made an appointment with her friends.

As it turned out later, the actress saved the sisters' lives with her decision. On that day, Polanski's beloved and all the guests of his house were killed by the gang of Charles Manson, who went down in American history as a mad homicidal maniac. These events were reflected in Quentin Tarantino's film "Once upon a Time... in Hollywood".

One of the most notorious scandals involving Polanski is connected with the rape of a 13-year-old girl. In 1977, Roman was allegedly looking for models to shoot for French Vogue. At one of the parties, he meets the mother of Samantha Geimer (nee Gailey), who offered him her daughter as a model.

On March 10, the director stopped by for the baby, they visited Jacqueline Bisset, Roman took a couple of photos there, and then went to the villa of Jack Nicholson, who was away. At the actor's mansion, Polanski took champagne out of the refrigerator and poured it into glasses.

Polanski poured and poured champagne for the girl, then asked her to change into new dresses. Later, he offered to snack on champagne with quaaludes (a sedative that had previously been actively used as a drug) and suggested that Samantha move into the Jacuzzi. Polanski, after taking several photos of a naked girl, expressed a desire to enter the water himself. He was completely naked.

Samantha tried to lie to Polanski that she had asthma and needed to go home for pills urgently. He replied that he would take her, but did not immediately catch himself. At first, the director asked when the Samantha's last menstruation and whether the girl is taking birth control pills. Then he raped her twice.

After the incident, Polanski took the girl home. On the way, she cried, and the director asked her to keep secret everything that happened in Nicholson's house.

Further events developed under the close attention of the public: Roman Polanski admitted that he had sex with Samantha. After that, a long trial began. Upon his return from prison, the director was informed by his lawyer that the judge who considered his case had changed his position and did not intend to agree with the prosecutor's recommendation to impose a suspended sentence on Polanski.

This was a violation of the agreement reached by the director's lawyers with the prosecutor's office and previously approved by the same judge. Frightened, Polanski fled just before the sentencing. He left the USA in Great Britain, and then, to avoid extradition— to France.

In May 2018, the US Film Academy expelled Polanski from its ranks. On February 10, 2020, feminists demanded to boycott Roman Plansky's film "The Officer and the Spy" and announced their intention to protest at the Pleyel Concert Hall on February 28, when the Cesar Award will be presented there.

Against this background, the management of the Cesar Award resigned in full two weeks before the annual ceremony.

By the way, on June 10, 2017, it became known that Samantha Geimer asked the Los Angeles court to dismiss the case of the crime committed against her.