*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).
The former first lady will host The Michelle Obama Podcast from Obama's Higher Ground production company, Spotify announced Thursday.
With caseloads continuing to rise, more school districts say they can’t safely bring students back in person, and will begin the school year online. Houston and San Francisco are the latest cities to say they’ll start virtually.
Travelers from 22 states are now being told to quarantine or face a heavy fine if they come to New York, as the Tri-State area worries about getting caught in a second wave of infections brought on by outsiders.
Arizona, Texas, and Florida are together reporting about 25,000 new coronavirus cases as new restrictions aimed at combating the spread of the pandemic take hold in the United States and around the world.
The Trump administration has rescinded a rule that would have required international students to transfer schools or leave the country if their colleges hold classes entirely online this fall because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Millions of people thrive in the American West’s deserts today, but not every is thriving. You’ve probably heard of droughts and wildfires in California, of groundwater drying up in Arizona, and of entire communities, like those on the Navajo Nation, that have been left without running water. The region is finally coming to terms with decades of infrastructure projects, coupled with using more water than nature can provide, as the threat of climate change moves in. Cheddar explains why the American West is running out of water.
Burger King has rebalanced the diet of some of the cows by adding lemon grass in a bid to limit bovine contributions to climate change.
Tina Tchen, president and CEO of Time's Up, provides insight into how companies can go about addressing inequities in the workplace.
California is rolling back its re-opening: by order of the governor, most indoor places where people gather will be forced to close as the state’s coronavirus caseload rises.
Authorities say "Glee" star Naya Rivera has been found dead at a Southern California lake.
