Roman Polanski wins £50,000 in libel damages

The Oscar-winning director defeats Vanity Fair at the London High Court.

Jul 22 2005

Roman Polanski has been awarded £50,000 libel damages over a claim that he tried to seduce a Scandinavian woman soon after his wife Sharon Tate's murder.

The Oscar-winning director sued Condé Nast over a Vanity Fair story that claimed he made a pass at the woman in a New York restaurant shortly after the 1969 murder of his wife and four friends at the hands of Charles Manson and his so-called 'family'.

The jury took four-and-a-half hours to reach their unanimous verdict at the High Court today, although Polanski wasn't present for fear of extradition to America, where he is wanted for having sex with a girl of 13.

Speaking of the decision, Polanski said: It goes without saying that, whilst the whole episode is a sad one, I am obviously pleased with the jury's verdict today.'

He added: 'Three years of my life have been interrupted. Three years within which I have had no choice but to relive the horrible events of August 1969, the murders of my wife, my unborn child and my friends.

'Many untruths have been published about me, most of which I have ignored, but the allegations printed in the July 2002 edition of Vanity Fair could not go unchallenged.'