WARSAW, Poland – Oscar-winning filmmaker Roman Polanski, who fled the United States 40 years ago as a sex offender awaiting sentencing, said he views the #MeToo movement as “collective hysteria” and “total hypocrisy.”
Polanski made the comment to the Polish edition of Newsweek before the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences stripped him of his membership, citing his 1977 guilty plea and conviction for unlawful sex with a minor.
In this May 2, 2018 photo director Roman Polanski appears at an international film festival, where he promoted his latest film, “Based on a True Story,” in Krakow, Poland. Polanski was expelled this week from membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organizers the Oscars, for unlawful sex with a minor 41 years ago. (AP Photo)The magazine published an account this week from an interview it said Polanski gave before the Academy’s May 3 decision.
In his interview, Polanski said he views #MeToo as a “collective hysteria of the kind that sometimes happens in the society.”
“Everyone is trying to sign up, chiefly out of fear,” he said.