Roman Polanski no longer going on trial in LA for 1973 rape of minor

Roman Polanski will not go on trial in Los Angeles next year for raping a minor in 1973, French news agency AFP reported.

The director's lawyer, Alexander Rufus-Isaacs, told AFP on Tuesday that the case was “settled to the mutual satisfaction of both parties over the summer and has now been officially dismissed.” Polanski was due to stand trial in August 2025.

Gloria Allred, a lawyer for the unnamed plaintiff, also confirmed to AFP that “the parties agreed to settle the claim to their mutual satisfaction.”

diversity Rufus-Isaacs and Allred have been reached for additional comment.

The lawsuit, filed in June 2023, alleged that Polanski raped Jane Doe in 1973 when she was a minor at his Benedict Canyon home. According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff met Polanski at a party a few months ago and he invited her to dinner, gave her a shot of tequila and took her to his house, where she ended up in his bed.

“The plaintiff remembers waking up in bed with the defendant lying in bed next to him,” the suit states. “He told her he wanted to have sex with her. The plaintiff, though angry, told the defendant 'No.' He told her, 'Please don't do it.'

The woman came forward with Allred at a 2017 press conference, where she was identified as Robin M., and said she was 16 when the alleged incident occurred. Polanski denied the claim through his attorney, saying in a statement at the time: “Mr. Polanski vehemently denies the allegations in the lawsuit and believes this case is the appropriate place to litigate it in court.”

Polanski has been a fugitive from the United States since 1978, so cannot attend the trial in person and must appear via live video feed. Polanski fled the country on the eve of his sentencing for raping a 13-year-old girl and has since been unable to return without fear of arrest. Over the next several decades, efforts to resolve the criminal case and extradite him failed.

Polanski recently faced a defamation trial in Paris from actor Charlotte Lewis, who alleged that he sexually assaulted her when she was 16. In a 2019 interview with French magazine Paris Match, Polanski called Lewis's claim a “disgusting lie”. Lewis would sue him for defamation. In May, Polanski was acquitted of the charges.