The French actress Emmanuelle Seigner has written a searing open letter in support of her embattled husband, director Roman Polanski, in response to what she describes as an "offensive proposal" by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that she join its ranks.
The organization, which oversees the Academy Awards, is in the midst of an initiative to diversify its white male-dominant voting membership. Last month, the Academy invited 928 entertainment industry professionals to join, including Jada Pinkett Smith, Dave Chappelle and Tiffany Haddish.
Seigner, who is best known in the U.S. for her work in Julian Schnabel's "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," won't be one of them. In response to the invitation, she criticized the Academy in a letter to the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche for what she described as "the insufferable hypocrisy" in its dealings with Polanski.
The director, who is best known for films like "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby," won the Oscar for best directing in 2003 for "The Pianist." In May, he was expelled with Bill Cosby by the Academy's Board of Governors "in accordance with the organization's Standards of Conduct," the academy said in a statement at the time. The Academy claimed that Polanski flouted those standards when, in 1978, he fled the U.S. before sentencing after he pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.
In her letter, Seigner blasted how the Academy has treated Polanski. Writing that she's always been a feminist, she said, "But how can I ignore the fact that a few weeks ago the Academy expelled my husband ... in an attempt to appease the zeitgeist _ the very same Academy which in 2002 awarded him an Oscar for 'The Pianist!' A curious case of amnesia!"
Citing his work directing "unforgettable female characters," Seigner argued that artists aren't exempt from justice, "but it should be the same justice that exists for all, not a justice that goes back on its word and violates its own principles. That was the case in Los Angeles in 1977, when his first confinement in prison was supposed to be his punishment. Today, Roman has served more than the maximum sentence for the offence committed."
The couple, who most recently worked together on 2017's "Based on a True Story," have been married since 1989.
