A woman who was raped by Roman Polanski aged just 13 has claimed the attack was “never a big problem”.
Samantha Geimer, 60, said “she didn’t even know it was illegal” when she was plied with alcohol and pills before being raped by the French-Polish film director in 1977.
“I was fine, I’m still fine,” she said in an interview with Polanski’s wife Emmanuelle Seigner, 56, for French outlet Le Point.
“To have to constantly repeat that it wasn’t a big deal, it’s a terrible burden.”
Polanski has been wanted in the US for the rape of Ms Geimer. He admitted having unlawful sex with her and served 42 days in prison, but fled the country over fears his plea bargain was going to be scrapped. He has lived abroad ever since.
After the interview was published, Ms Seigner posted a photo of the two women on Instagram, captioned: “Thank you Samantha for coming all this way to meet me and talk to me.”
The victim replied: “I’m very happy to have a new friend.”
In the article, Ms Geimer claimed differing attitudes towards sex in the 1970s meant “sex was recreational, sometimes transactional”.
She said: “All the girls, the models, slept with the photographers and I was no exception.”
Polanski had invited her to a photoshoot in 1977 under the guise of being featured in Vogue magazine, which he was set to guest-edit. The rape happened at actor Jack Nicholson’s house in Los Angeles.
After Polanski took a plea bargain, charges of rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, lewd act upon a child under 14, and furnishing a controlled substance to a minor were all dropped. He fled to France in 1978.
The director has since been accused of sexual assault by five other women, one of whom said he assaulted her when she was aged just ten. Polanski has always denied the allegations.
The interview also touched on the MeToo movement against sexual abuse.
Ms Geimer criticised lawyer Gloria Allred, who has taken on several high-profile cases of sexual assault and women’s rights.
“[Allred] just diminishes women to exploit their pain,” she said. “Today, women’s pain is valued, and there’s a whole industry that exploits suffering.”
Ms Geimer said she initially did not feel a victim after the rape, but did later after being hounded by the press. She added: “If someone had something to say about Roman, about any mistreatment, 1977 would have been a really good year to help me.”
But Ms Geimer insisted that Polanski be cleared, adding: “From my side, nobody wanted him to go to jail, but he did and it was enough. He paid his debt to society. There, end of story.”
