The Hollywood community is up in arms over the recent arrest of Academy Award winning director Roman Polanski.
Polanski was arrested on 26 September in plot so good that one wonders whether Chris Hansen, of NBC’s ‘To Catch A Predator’ fame, was involved.
Polanski flew to Switzerland to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Zürich Film Festival. Upon arrival, he was arrested due to an outstanding US arrest warrant from 1978, relating to his case of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.
Reports that Osama Bin Laden is also due to receive an award from the festival next year are unconfirmed at the time of going to press.
The arrest has sparked outrage among the Hollywood elite, including Whoopi Goldberg, star of SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2. Goldberg appeared on television chat show The View to defend Polanski’s actions, commenting that “I know it wasn’t ‘rape’ rape… I think it was something else, but I don’t believe it was ‘rape’ rape”.
For those unfamiliar with the case, in March 1977 Polanski pleaded guilty to a charge of statutory rape, after the then 44-year-old Polanski fed a 13-year-old girl champagne and a sedative, forced himself on her and anally raped her, according to the girl’s grand jury testimony.
Polanski has been living in France since, after skipping bail. He was unable to accept his Best Director Academy Award for the 2002 film The Pianist, for fear of being arrested by American authorities.
A petition, signed by stars such as Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen, is being circulated to overturn this latest arrest.