Filmmaker Roman Polanski acquitted after being sued for defamation by actress Charlotte Lewis

The 90-year-old director notably described the comments of the actress, who accused him of rape, as “odious lies”.

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Director Roman Polanski, in Krakow, Poland, May 2, 2018. (BEATA ZAWRZEL / NURPHOTO / AFP)

A legal victory for the filmmaker. The Paris court acquitted Roman Polanski on Tuesday, May 14, when he was sued for defamation by British actress Charlotte Lewis for calling her a liar while she accused him of rape.

The judges did not have to rule on whether Roman Polanski, 90, had raped Charlotte Lewis or not. They only had to decide whether or not the Franco-Polish filmmaker had made abusive use of his freedom of expression in an interview published by Paris Match in December 2019. The director notably described“odious lie” the actress’s accusations.

In 2010, during a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival, Charlotte Lewis recounted having been attacked during a casting organized at Roman Polanski’s house in Paris in 1983, when she was 16 years old.


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