Roman Polanski has resigned as president of the César Awards, an equivalent to the French Oscars. His assignment was announced last week, but due to an outcry and criticism by d’Osez le Feminisme, a French feminist organization, Polanski has decided to resign.
“In order not to disturb the César ceremony, which should be centered on cinema and not on whom it chose to preside over the ceremony, Roman Polanski has decided not to accept the invitation,” a lawyer for Mr. Polanski in Paris said in a statement to the New York Times.
D’Osez le Feminisme cites Polanski’s appointment as an offense to victims of rape and sexual assault, given the director’s 1978 statutory-rape conviction. Polanski is wanted in the U.S. for the crime but currently, resides in France as that country doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the U.S.
The César Awards will be handed out in a ceremony on February 24.
