Roman Polanski and Bill Cosby have been expelled from the Academy

By Sam Barsanti | May 3, 2018 | 7:32pm

Aux Features Film

In a statement shared by BuzzFeed News reporter Kate Aurthur, the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences—a.k.a. the organization behind the Academy Awards—has announced that its Board Of Governors has voted to expel both Bill Cosby and Roman Polanski from its membership “in accordance with the organization’s standards of conduct.” The statement goes on to say that the Academy requires its members to uphold its values “of respect for human dignity.” That’s a relatively pointed statement in this case, even if it doesn’t specifically say why these two men are being expelled (though it should be obvious).

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Polanski was convicted of statutory rape in 1978 and has been on the run pretty much since then, but it’s worth acknowledging that this is pretty much the first time the Academy has made an effort to turn its back on him. Polanski won a Best Director Oscar for The Pianist in 2003, and though he wasn’t in attendance, he received a rather joyous standing ovation from the audience. (Once again, he was convicted of having sex with a teenage girl.)

Harvey Weinstein was also expelled from the Academy late last year, making him only the second person ever to be kicked out like that, with Cosby and Polanski now the third and fourth.