Roman Polanski has been a proponent of the “He’s Too Famous To Be Punished” defense for decades, but it sounds like that time he drugged and raped a 13-year-old girl and then ran away before he could get punished for it might finally be catching up with him. Or, you know, it would if the “He’s Too Famous To Be Punished” defense weren’t so airtight. He’s just so damn famous! He’s untouchable!
We reported in January that the United States had decided to take another crack at having Polanski—who has been filming a movie in Poland—extradited, but since he’s a Polish citizen, the country isn’t required to force him back to America unless it wants to. We figured it was unlikely that Poland would decide to extradite him, since he’s just so famous, but apparently someone in the world actually thinks there’s something criminal about drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl and then skipping out on the prison time, because Poland is actually going to put on an extradition hearing for him.
That comes from the BBC, and it means that a Polish court will examine all of the facts in the case—like the ones about how he admitted to drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl and then ran away—and then it will decide if he should be extradited or not. If the court does side in favor of extradition, Poland’s justice minister will then make the final decision about what Polanski’s fate will be, and then—finally—he might be shipped back to America. Hilariously, though, the BBC says “it appears unlikely Poland would allow Polanski to be extradited,” because, “he is viewed by many as one of the country’s greatest living artists.” In other words, it’s a textbook example of the “He’s Too Famous To Be Punished” defense. Polanski’s hearing will be held on February 25, at which point the world will discover whether or not it’s really possible to be so famous that you don’t deserve to be punished for your crimes. We’re so excited!