The French-Polish director Roman Polanski has to answer in court for a defamation scandal in France. It’s about the lawsuit brought by British actress Charlotte Lewis, who accuses the director of having dismissed her allegations of sexual abuse as lies. A date for the trial has not yet been set, according to judicial circles on Wednesday.
It would be the first time French justice has dealt with Polanski in connection with allegations of sexual abuse. These are not the focus of the planned trial, but are likely to be the subject of the court hearing.
The lawsuit was triggered by an interview with Polanski in the gossip newspaper Paris Match, in which he called Lewis a “liar”. Lewis admitted in 2010 that she was sexually abused by Polanski in the 1980s when she was 16. In 1999, however, a British tabloid quoted her as saying that at the time she was trying to become Polanski’s mistress. The actress later distanced herself from it and accused the newspaper of false quotations.
Polanski’s lawyers initially declined to comment on the trial in France. She also does not know whether the 89-year-old will appear in person at the court hearing or not, said lawyer Delphine Meillet. The boss of “Paris Match” also has to answer in court.
Born in 1967, the actress starred in Polanski’s 1986 film Pirates. Polanski pleaded guilty to molesting a minor in the United States in 1977. The following year he fled the United States because he feared a new trial and a higher sentence. Since then, further allegations of rape against him have become known.