--- title: Roman Polanski Drops Out of 2017 César Film Awards description: Find out why Roman Polanski won't host the 2017 Cesar Awards in France after feminist protests. canonical: https://time.com/4645074/roman-polanski-cesar-awards-host/ author: Samantha Cooney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-24T16:30:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:04:30.524Z og:title: Roman Polanski Won’t Host the César Awards After Uproar og:description: Almost 62,000 signed a petition to drop him from the show og:url: https://time.com/4645074/roman-polanski-cesar-awards-host/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3754390dd9523e71/6988b6f7cf40a83716c462cf/roman-polanski-cesar-awards.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3382 og:image:height: 1902 og:image:alt: FRANCE-LITERATURE-BOOK-FAIR og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Roman Polanski Won’t Host the César Awards After Uproar twitter:description: Almost 62,000 signed a petition to drop him from the show twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3754390dd9523e71/6988b6f7cf40a83716c462cf/roman-polanski-cesar-awards.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Roman Polanski Won’t Host the César Awards After Uproar > Sponsored content. 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It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=19a6a2c2-7a4e-4ece-92fb-86c0dc5bf1ac&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1)  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Jan 24, 2017 4:30 PM UTC  Oscar-winning Polish-French director Roman Polanski looks on on August 28, 2016 in Chanceaux-près-Loches, central France, during the 21th book fair "The book forest" (La Foret Des Livres). / AFP / GUILLAUME SOUVANT (Photo credit should read GUILLAUME SOUVANT/AFP/Getty Images) Oscar-winning Polish-French director Roman Polanski looks on on August 28, 2016 in Chanceaux-près-Loches, central France, during the 21th book fair "The book forest" (La Foret Des Livres). / AFP / GUILLAUME SOUVANT (Photo credit should read GUILLAUME SOUVANT/AFP/Getty Images) GUILLAUME SOUVANT—AFP/Getty Images  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Jan 24, 2017 4:30 PM UTC Roman Polanski won’t host a major French awards ceremony after protests over the director’s 1970s statutory rape conviction, [the New York _Times_ reports](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/24/world/europe/roman-polanski-france-cesar-awards.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts®ion=stream&module=stream%5Funit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&%5Fr=1). Polanski, who [plead guilty ](http://time.com/4352103/poland-wants-to-revive-roman-polanski-extradition-proceedings/)to having sex with a 13-year-old girl but fled to Europe in 1978 ahead of his sentencing, was named the host of the César Awards, a prestigious film awards ceremony in France similar to the Oscars. Soon after the announcement, French’s feminists [protested the choice](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/20/movies/roman-polanski-cesar-awards-france.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Frachel-donadio&action=click&contentCollection=undefined®ion=stream&module=stream%5Funit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection&%5Fr=0). Laurence Rossignol, France’s minister for families, children, and women’s rights, [said the choice](http://www.francetvinfo.fr/culture/cinema/cesar-2014/roman-polanski-president-des-cesar-un-choix-surprenant-et-choquant-pour-laurence-rossignol-ministre-des-droits-des-femmes%5F2027574.html) was “surprising and shocking,” and almost 62,000 signed [a petition](https://www.change.org/p/pour-la-destitution-de-roman-polanski-comme-pr%C3%A9sident-des-c%C3%A9sar-boycottc%C3%A9sar) asking for the award show to drop Polanski. “Regardless of the quality of Mr. Polanski’s films, we can’t remain silent about the fact that 40 years ago he escaped American justice,” a spokesperson for feminist group Osez le féminisme [told the Agence France-Presse](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/20/movies/roman-polanski-cesar-awards-france.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Frachel-donadio&action=click&contentCollection=undefined®ion=stream&module=stream%5Funit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection&%5Fr=0). On Tuesday, Polanski’s lawyer released a statement saying that the director wouldn’t host the show after all. “In order not to disturb the César ceremony, which should be centered on cinema and not on whom it chose to preside over the ceremony, Roman Polanski has decided not to accept the invitation,” Hervé Temime, a lawyer for Polanski, said in a statement, [according to the _Times_. ](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/24/world/europe/roman-polanski-france-cesar-awards.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts®ion=stream&module=stream%5Funit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&%5Fr=1) \[[The New York _Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/24/world/europe/roman-polanski-france-cesar-awards.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts®ion=stream&module=stream%5Funit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&%5Fr=1)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4645074/roman-polanski-cesar-awards-host/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4645074/roman-polanski-cesar-awards-host/"},"headline":"Roman Polanski Won’t Host the César Awards After Uproar","datePublished":"2017-01-24T16:30:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:04:30.524Z","description":"Almost 62,000 signed a petition to drop him from the show","url":"https://time.com/4645074/roman-polanski-cesar-awards-host/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3754390dd9523e71/6988b6f7cf40a83716c462cf/roman-polanski-cesar-awards.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3754390dd9523e71/6988b6f7cf40a83716c462cf/roman-polanski-cesar-awards.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FRANCE-LITERATURE-BOOK-FAIR","caption":"FRANCE-LITERATURE-BOOK-FAIR","creditText":"GUILLAUME SOUVANT—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4645074/roman-polanski-cesar-awards-host/","name":"Roman Polanski Won’t Host the César Awards After Uproar"}}]}] ```