The woman who was raped by notorious director Roman Polanski, just 13 years old, has spoken out in defense of her attacker, claiming it was “never a big deal” for her.
Samantha Geimer said in an interview with Polanski’s wife Emmanuelle Seigner that she “didn’t even know it was illegal” when she used alcohol and pills before being raped in Jack Nicholson’s home in 1977.
“It went well, it’s still going well,” she said in the interview with French outlet Le Point. “The fact that we made this thing up weighs heavily on me. To constantly have to repeat that it wasn’t a big deal, it’s a terrible burden.’
Geimer is one of six women who have accused Polanski of sexual assault, but she has repeatedly defended the French-Polish film director in recent years.
Polanski still has a warrant for his arrest for Geimer’s rape in 1977, and he fled to France in 1978 after learning he would be jailed for the assault. He had previously pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.
Roman Polanski, photographed in May 2018, fled to France in 1978 after learning he would be jailed the year before for the rape of 13-year-old Samantha Geimer
Geimer, writer and former actress, has repeatedly defended the director in recent years
In her last interview, Geimer brushed off the 1977 attack, claiming that the differing attitudes to sex in the 1970s meant that “sex was recreational, sometimes transactional.”
“I remember when I started working – I became a model when I was 14 years old,” she continued.
‘All the girls, the models, slept with the photographers and I was no exception. But sex was normal, a natural part of life. There wasn’t all this drama, all this darkness surrounding sex.”
The infamous case of Polanski’s rape of Geimer came after he invited the then 13-year-old to a photo shoot under the guise of appearing in an edition of Vogue magazine, which Polanski was going to guest edit.
He was scheduled to serve just 42 days in prison for the assault, and after entering a plea, faced charges of drug rape, perversion, sodomy, lewd acts with a 14-year-old child, and supplying a controlled substance to a minor. dropped.
When he learned that he was likely to be jailed, he became a fugitive from justice and fled to France just hours before he was due to be formally sentenced. He has since avoided countries likely to extradite him to the United States, and he still has an outstanding warrant for his arrest.
Polanski, pictured leaving court in 1977, has been accused of sexual assault by several women
Samantha Geimer was just 13 years old when she was raped by the Oscar-winning film director
The extended interview with Polanski’s wife also touched on the limitations of the #MeToo movement, with Geimer lashing out at attorney Gloria Allred, who has taken on several notable sexual assault and women’s rights cases.
“(Allred) just shrinks women to exploit their pain,” she said. “I’m sorry, but that’s not a defense.”
After Sieger claimed that “feminine desire has been denied, destroyed,” Geiger continued, “It’s sad for women, but especially for young women.
“Imagine growing up in this day and age, that seems awful to me. I don’t see what’s so feminist about claiming victimhood.
“Today, women’s pain is valued, and there’s an entire industry that exploits the suffering. Those who participate do not know what they are getting into.’
Polanski has largely remained in France for the past four decades to avoid extradition to the United States
Samantha Geimer was only 13 when she was intoxicated with alcohol and pills before being raped by Polanski
Geimer said she initially did not feel victimized after the infamous attack, only later feeling victimized after being hounded by the press and repeated lawsuits.
“If anyone had anything to say about Roman, about assault, 1977 would have been a really good year to help me,” she continued.
‘Because with my family we couldn’t even leave our house! Everyone attacked us.
“Nobody came up next to me and said, ‘Hey, you know what? I think she’s telling the truth because something similar happened to me.” It’s not like the story was private, it was in newspapers all over the world!
“But no, no one, not one of the women who claims to have had a problem with Roman today, has bothered to contact me.
‘And now, now that they urgently need to unpack everything? Who are they kidding.’
Although Polanski is still wanted by law enforcement, Geimer insisted that the charges against him be cleared and that he be allowed to return to the United States.
“People pretend to act in the name of justice, or because they support me, but it’s the opposite of what I want and everything I say I want,” she said.
“They consider themselves morally superior, when they simply take the easy way out. The extradition attempt, the fact that Roman was arrested like this, it was so unfair and so against justice.
Everyone should know by now that Roman has served his sentence. That was… long, if you want my opinion. From my side, nobody wanted him to go to jail, but he did and it was enough. He paid his debt to society. There you go, end of story.
“He did everything that was asked of him until the situation got out of hand. He had no choice but to flee. Whoever thinks he deserves to be in prison is wrong. That is not the case today and it was not the case yesterday.’