Polanski Made Deal to Pay Rape Victim $500K

Samantha Geimer asks court, media to leave her alone

(NEWSER) - The woman who was raped by Roman Polanski when she was 13 wants the charge against the fugitive director dropped. Polanski pleaded guilty in 1977 to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor but fled before sentencing. He's in custody in Switzerland and Samantha Geimer, who lives in Hawaii, is under seige by the media, the Los Angeles Times reports. More»

He pleaded guilty and fled. How can anyone rationalize that?

(NEWSER) - Kate Harding would like to remind everyone crowing about the injustice of arresting a 76-year-old man who’s put in 31 years of exile that Roman Polanski is a fugitive and, coincidentally, a child rapist. The director “gave a 13-year-old girl a Quaalude and champagne,” according to her testimony and his admission. He also “put his penis in her vagina as she said no and asked him to stop; asked if he could penetrate her anally, to which she replied, ‘No,’ then went ahead and did it anyway.” More»

Confessed rapist 'has never shown remorse'

(NEWSER) - The Swiss government's decision to free Roman Polanski on a technicality is bad enough; the fact that a lawyer for the filmmaker and confessed rapist called the move "a great relief after the pain suffered by Roman Polanski and his family" is "the definitive textbook example of unmitigated gall," Eugene Robinson writes for the Washington Post . "As long as he steers clear of US justice, why don't we steer clear of his movies?" More»

Calvin Trillin: 'He only raped one little girl'

(NEWSER) - The debate raging over Roman Polanski—hairsplitting over the definitions of guilt, genius, and rape, among other pertinent terms—has been missing one thing: verse. Veteran journalist and author Calvin Trillin dons his poet hat to take up the slack, devastatingly. His latest contribution to the Nation's "Deadline Poet" feature lays out the plight of the fugitive director in elegant rhyming couplets: "He'll miss the movers and the shakers. / He'll never get to see the Lakers." More»

(NEWSER) - Some of Hollywood's biggest names are lining up behind Roman Polanski, but Chris Rock is not among them. On last night's Jay Leno Show, Rock ridiculed the notion of defending the fugitive filmmaker because of his art. "He made good movies 30 years ago. Even Johnnie Cochran don't have the nerve to go, 'Well, did you see OJ play against New England?'" He added, "Thirteen is thirteen." New York points out that Kirstie Alley, on Twitter, was the first celeb to blast Polanski publicly. More»