The controversial director announced on Thursday that he will not attend the Cesar Awards ceremony in Paris, where his latest film leads the nominations, due to the backlash caused by recent and past sexual harassment allegations against him.
Polanski released his latest film, "An Officer and a Spy," in 2019, just days after a French actress accused him of rape in 1975, when she was just 18. According to the actress, the incident occurred during a skiing holiday in Gstaad, Switzerland.
The renowned 86-year-old director has denied these allegations.
"Feminist activists are now threatening me with a public lynching," Polanski said in a press release, adding that he wants to protect his staff and family.
Feminist groups in France have criticized the decision of the organizers of the "Cesars Awards" to nominate Polanski's film in several categories, and have called for a boycott of this project, Koha.net reports. Some of them even say that the organizers are claiming that "raping women is no big deal."
A few weeks ago, a large number of management employees at the Cesar Academy resigned due to criticism they received about the nomination of Polanski's film in several categories.
The "Cesar Awards" ceremony is compared to the "Oscar" ceremony, in terms of the importance of the awards they award.
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