Director Roman Polanski accused of raping minor in 1973; trial set for next year

Academy Award-winning director Roman Polanski is accused of drugging and raping a woman at his Los Angeles home when she was a minor in 1973, according to a lawsuit announced by the alleged victim’s attorney on Tuesday.

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The woman revealed the allegations in a news conference with her attorney, Gloria Allred, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The unidentified plaintiff filed the lawsuit last June in Los Angeles Superior Court, but was prohibited from naming Polanski, 90, as a defendant. Allred said during a news conference that the court recently allowed her to file an amended complaint that named the director, the entertainment news website reported.

The trial is scheduled for Aug. 4, 2025, the Los Angeles Times reported. Polanski is accused of rape, sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Polanski, who won an Oscar as best director for “The Pianist” in 2002, has denied the accusations and has attempted to get the case dismissed, the newspaper reported.

The director previously pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a minor in a separate case in 1977, the Times reported. He fled the United States and has lived abroad. France and Poland have refused to extradite Polanski, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Allred said she had Polanski served at his home in Paris. The plaintiff, identified only as Jane Doe, joined her at the news conference.

“Our client ... has demonstrated enormous courage in filing her lawsuit against a famous director,” Allred said during the news conference. “Although the defendant has appeared to return to business as usual in his life, our client has not been able to return to business as usual. ... But we look forward to our fight for justice and accountability for Jane Doe.”

The woman first came forward at a news conference with Allred in August 2017, Variety reported. At the time, Allred said the plaintiff was 16 when the sexual assault allegedly occurred.

According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff alleged that Polanski, who knew she was under 18, gave her tequila and then allegedly raped her despite her protests, Deadline reported.

The woman said the alleged assault and its aftermath over the last 50 years has caused her “tremendous physical and emotional pain and suffering,” the suit states.

Alexander Rufus-Isaacs, a defense attorney for the director, told The Associated Press in an email Tuesday that Polanski “strenuously denies the allegations made against him in the lawsuit and believes that the proper place to try this case is in the courts.”

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