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Film director Roman Polanski is suing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, demanding reinstatement to the storied organization after he was expelled last May. The suit, filed in the state of California, says AMPAS did not follow proper protocol in dismissing him nearly a year ago. The Academy did so “in accordance with the organization’s Standards of Conduct,” they said at the time, adding their leadership expected members to “uphold the Academy’s values of respect for human dignity.” Polanski’s suit says the Academy’s expulsion decision “is not supported by findings, and the Academy’s findings are not supported by...

Just days after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted to expel Roman Polanski from its ranks, the director's attorney sent a letter to the organization Tuesday morning, arguing the move was unlawful and threatening to take legal action if Polanski is not granted a hearing. In his letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Times, Polanski's attorney, Harland Braun, said the academy had failed to follow both its own rules and California law in denying the Oscar-winning director a chance to present his own case. "We are not here contesting the merits of the expulsion...

The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has voted to expel actor Bill Cosby and director Roman Polanksi from its membership ranks. The move comes a week after Cosby was convicted of three counts of aggravated indecent assault brought against him by Andrea Constand, and after disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was first expelled from the organization last year. Polanski has been on the lam for 40 years, ever since fleeing the country while awaiting sentencing for statutory rape in 1978. The decision to remove Cosby and Polanski from the membership was made Tuesday,...