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Roman Polanski Bashes #MeToo: It’s ‘Collective Hysteria’ and ‘Total Hypocrisy’

Polanski was recently stripped of his 50-year Academy membership for being guilty of having sex with a minor in 1977.
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
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Roman Polanski is not a fan of #MeToo. The controversial director, who was found guilty in 1977 of having sex with a minor, slammed the anti-sexual harassment movement while speaking to the Polish edition of Newsweek (via AP News). Polanski referred to #MeToo as a “collective hysteria of the kind that sometimes happens in the society.”

“Everyone is trying to sign up, chiefly out of fear,” he said. Polanski then compared #MeToo supporters to mourners in North Korea who cry so much when their leaders die that “you can’t help laughing.”

“To me this is total hypocrisy,” Polanski added, referring to his belief that people are voicing support for #MeToo victims not because they want to but because they are afraid of what will happen if they don’t.

Polanski remains a fugitive of the United States after fleeing the country in 1978 to avoid jail time for the sex case. The director recently was expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which he had been a member of for the last 50 years. Polanski’s lawyer, Harland Braun, said the filmmaker plans to fight the Academy’s decision.

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