Bill Cosby and Roman Polanski expelled from Oscars academy
Pair removed following a vote of the academy board on Tuesday
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, which oversees the Oscars, has expelled Bill Cosby and Roman Polanksi following a vote of the board on Tuesday.
In a statement, the academy said it had expelled the actor and director “in accordance with the organisation’s Standards of Conduct”.
“The Board continues to encourage ethical standards that require members to uphold the Academy’s values of respect for human dignity,” it added.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Cosby was found guilty last week of three counts of aggravated indecent assault and faces up to 30 years in prison. Polanski, who admitted to the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl in 1977, spent 42 days in prison but fled the US amid fears a plea deal would be scrapped.
“Many people have been asking what took the academy so long to take action against Polanski,” says the BBC.
According to the ABC, only “four academy members are now known to have been expelled”.
Producer Harvey Weinstein was removed in October 2017 in the wake of a string of serious sexual harassment and assault claims, and actor Carmine Caridi was expelled in 2004 for sharing confidential copies of films with a friend, which ended up online.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
5 hilariously spirited cartoons about the spirit of Christmas
Cartoons Artists take on excuses, pardons, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Inside the house of Assad
The Explainer Bashar al-Assad and his father, Hafez, ruled Syria for more than half a century but how did one family achieve and maintain power?
By The Week UK Published
-
Sudoku medium: December 22, 2024
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Why Assad fell so fast
The Explainer The newly liberated Syria is in an incredibly precarious position, but it's too soon to succumb to defeatist gloom
By The Week UK Published
-
Romania's election rerun
The Explainer Shock result of presidential election has been annulled following allegations of Russian interference
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Russia's shadow war in Europe
Talking Point Steering clear of open conflict, Moscow is slowly ratcheting up the pressure on Nato rivals to see what it can get away with.
By The Week UK Published
-
Cutting cables: the war being waged under the sea
In the Spotlight Two undersea cables were cut in the Baltic sea, sparking concern for the global network
By The Week UK Published
-
The nuclear threat: is Vladimir Putin bluffing?
Talking Point Kremlin's newest ballistic missile has some worried for Nato nations
By The Week UK Published
-
Russia vows retaliation for Ukrainian missile strikes
Speed Read Ukraine's forces have been using U.S.-supplied, long-range ATCMS missiles to hit Russia
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Has the Taliban banned women from speaking?
Today's Big Question 'Rambling' message about 'bizarre' restriction joins series of recent decrees that amount to silencing of Afghanistan's women
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Cuba's energy crisis
The Explainer Already beset by a host of issues, the island nation is struggling with nationwide blackouts
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published