Film stars and other celebrities convicted of or facing possible prison time for sexual or sexist violence are being banned from César Awards, France’s top film awards ceremony, “out of respect for the victims”. The awards are considered the French equivalent of the Oscars.
The Césars have also faced scrutiny in the wake of the #MeToo movement. Women’s rights activists protested outside the 2020 ceremony where filmmaker Roman Polanski was given an award. Adele Haenel, who alleged sexual assault by another French director in the early 2000s when she was 15, walked out of the room, followed by a few others. Polanski, it may be mentioned, is still wanted in the US, decades after he was charged with raping a 13-year-old girl in 1977.
The board, which oversees the Césars, announced recently that such convicts or those facing investigations for sex crimes will not be invited to the ceremony. What’s more, the board added, other people will also not be allowed to speak on their behalf if they win an award.