Roman Polanski settled a sexual assault lawsuit out of court, attorneys stated this week. A woman, referred to as Jane Doe, had accused the renowned director of sexually assaulting her in 1973 when she was 16 years old.
The case was scheduled for an August 2025 trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court. However, the parties reached an agreement this summer to resolve the matter privately. Polanski’s lawyer, Alexander Rufus-Isaacs, and the plaintiff’s attorney Gloria Allred confirmed a settlement. Both sides said the claims were settled to their “mutual satisfaction.”
Doe claimed she met Polanski at a party in 1973. He later allegedly gave her tequila shots and brought her to his Los Angeles home, where the sexual assault took place. Doe cited another of Polanski’s accusers, Samantha Geimer, as her motivation to come forward in 2017. “I am speaking out now so that Samantha and the world will know that she is not the only minor Roman Polanski had victimized,” Doe said at the time.
Polanski fled the United States in 1978 after pleading guilty to statutory rape involving 13-year-old Geimer. He remains in France, which will not extradite its citizens. Multiple other women have since accused Polanski of sexual abuse during the 1970s, when some alleged victims were minors. The 91-year-old director has denied these claims.
The recent lawsuit was filed just before expiration of a California law extending the time to report sexual crimes. Terms of the settlement, like financial details, were kept private by the agreeing parties.
