*By Max Godnick*
Movie fans are used to hearing stars thank the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, but it's rare for an Oscar winner to say he wants to sue it.
The Academy-award winning director Roman Polanski threatened to take legal action against the Academy after it voted May 3 to expel him from its ranks.
The expulsion comes more than 40 years after Polanski, the filmmaker behind "Rosemary's Baby" and "Chinatown," pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl, and 16 years since the Academy honored him as best director for "The Pianist."
Polanski's lawyer, Harland Braun, said in a letter to the Academy obtained by the [Hollywood Reporter] (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/roman-polanskis-attorney-threatens-sue-academy-directors-expulsion-1109821) that the Academy did not give his client a chance to argue his case.
The Academy revised its rules in January, with new guidelines for membership and standards of conduct after accusations of sexual assault and harassment against the Academy member Harvey Weinstein. The revelations about Weinstein's conduct led to the widespread #MeToo movement, which Polanski called "collective hysteria" and "total hypocrisy."
"I think that it's the height of hypocrisy for a known pedophile and a sex offender to disparage and criticize people that have come forward after being sexually abused by powerful people in the media and Hollywood," said Jennifer Cunningham, senior editor at the African-American-focused entertainment news site Bossip.
So why did it take the Academy so many years to take action?
"I think they did not have a choice at this point," said Cunningham, in an interview with Cheddar. "Especially with Bill Cosby's conviction, maybe they were just trying to clean house and really distance themselves from these individuals."
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expelled Cosby and Polanski on the same day.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/bill-and-ted-reunite-for-a-threequel).
As humans, we share this beautiful planet with more than eight million other species. In this episode of "The Deep End," we are looking at a few that we interact with most intimately. They provide us comfort, do our yard work, and one even predates us by 66 million years.
On this episode of "The Deep End," we're venturing outside. Whether it's spending time in a national park, turning streets into public spaces to relax in, or having an outside date near the beach, there's plenty to do in the great outdoors.
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In this episode of "The Deep End," Cheddar News explores the social justice movements defining the start of a new decade. From systemic racism and climate change to police brutality and women's rights, these are just a few of the harsh realities America has reckoned with amid the COVID-19 pandemic. We're taking a closer look at where the nation stands today.
On this episode of "The Deep End," Cheddar News takes a closer look at taboo topics. Some people call them vices, while other people call them hobbies. But what we do know is the line between what is accepted and what is illicit is getting blurred more and more each day.
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