Bill Cosby, Roman Polanski expelled from Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

The news comes less than a week after a jury in Philadelphia reached a verdict in Cosby's retrial case for sexual assault. Cosby was found guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand during a 2004 incident at his suburban home. The guilty verdict, handed down for felony aggravated indecent assault, could see the 80-year-old comedian live out the rest of his days behind bars.

Polanski, meanwhile, is losing his Academy status several years after fleeing to France while facing jail time over a plea deal that saw him plead guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old in 1978.

The news comes 15 years after Polanski was given the award for Best Director in 2003 by the Academy for his movie "The Pianist."

As for Cosby, this isn't the only prestigious organization to consider giving him the boot this week. The TV Academy said it is reviewing Bill Cosby's inclusion in the Academy's Hall of Fame following his sexual assault conviction.

Although the Academy hasn't decided whether he'll remain in the Hall of Fame, Cosby's name had previously been removed a list of Hall of Fame honorees on the Academy's website.

A bust of Cosby no longer will be part of a rotating Walk of Fame exhibit honoring TV heavyweights at the Academy's Los Angeles headquarters, an Academy spokesman said.

Adopted in December, the Academy's code of conduct stipulates that the academy is no place for "people w ho abuse their status, power or influence in a manner that violates standards of decency."

The academy's board may now suspend or expel those who violate the code of conduct or who "compromise the integrity" of the academy.

Before Weinstein, only one person is thought to have been previously expelled from the academy: Carmine Caridi, a character actor who had his membership revoked in 2004 for lending DVD screeners of films in contention for Oscars that ended up online.

The film academy came under intense scrutiny following Weinstein's expulsion and the rise of the #MeToo movement for some of its active members, like Cosby, Polanski and Mel Gibson. And since then, many others have faced new allegations like Kevin Spacey, Brett Ratner, John Lasseter and Paul Haggis. It even became late-night fodder for people like John Oli ver.

Because its members are not made public, occasionally incorrect assumptions are made about who are part of the organization. Woody Allen, for one, is not.

 

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