A woman has sued director Roman Polanski, claiming he raped her in his home when she was a minor in 1973. The woman aired the allegations, which the 90-year-old Polanski has denied, in a news conference Tuesday with her attorney, Gloria Allred. The woman who filed the civil lawsuit said she went to dinner with Polanski, who knew she was under 18, in 1973. She said Polanski gave her tequila shots at his home beforehand and at the restaurant. She said she became groggy and Polanski drove her home. She next remembers lying next to him in his bed."He told her that he wanted to have sex with her," the lawsuit says. "He ignored her pleas. Defendant Polanski removed Plaintiff's clothes and he proceeded to rape her." Defense attorney Alexander Rufus-Isaacs said in an email Tuesday 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." The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in June under a California law that temporarily allowed people to file claims of childhood sexual abuse after the statute of limitations had expired. A judge has since given the plaintiff approval to use his name in the case. The judge on Friday set a 2025 trial date. In his legal response to the lawsuit, Polanski's attorney denies all of its allegations and asserts that the lawsuit is unconstitutional because it relies on a law not passed until 1990. At least three other women have come forward with stories of Polanski sexually abusing them.
A federal judge Tuesday dismissed a defamation lawsuit against Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, after her half sister accused her of spreading "disparaging, hurtful and false" statements in interviews. Samantha Markle, who shares a father with Meghan, claimed that comments Meghan made in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021 and later in a Netflix documentary series, "Harry & Meghan," aimed to portray Markle as "an unwelcome opportunist" who was "weaseling her way" into her famous half sister's life. In a 58-page decision, U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell ruled that Meghan's statements were protected either because they were pure opinion or substantially true, or because Markle had failed to make a case that they were defamatory. Michael Kump, a lawyer for Meghan, said in a statement he and his client were "pleased with the court's ruling dismissing the case." Peter Ticktin, a lawyer for Markle, called the decision "very upsetting" and said Markle planned to appeal.
Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex takes part in the keynote "Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen" on the first day of the South by Southwest Conference on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP)