‘It was never a big problem’: Roman Polanski’s victim Samantha Geimer

The woman who was raped by infamous director Roman Polanski aged just 13 has spoken out in defense of her attacker, claiming it was ‘never a big problem’ for her. 

Samantha Geimer, 60, said in an interview with Polanski’s wife Emmanuelle Seigner, 56, that she ‘didn’t even know it was illegal’ when she was plied with alcohol and pills before being raped at the home of Jack Nicholson in 1977. 

‘I was fine, I’m still fine,’ she said in the interview with French outlet Le Point. ‘The fact that we’ve made this thing up weighs on me terribly. To have to constantly repeat that it wasn’t a big deal, it’s a terrible burden.’ 

Geimer is one of six woman who have accused Polanski of sexual abuse, however she has repeatedly defended the French-Polish film director in recent years. 

Polanski still has a warrant out for his arrest for the rape of Geimer in 1977, and he fled to France in 1978 after learning he was set to be given jail time for the attack. He had previously pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. 

After the publication of the interview, Seigner, who married Polanski when she was 23 and he was 56 in 1989, posted photo of her with Geimer on Instagram. ‘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.’ 

Geimer, a writer and former actress, has repeatedly defended the director in recent years

In her latest interview, Geimer brushed off the 1977 attack, as she claimed differing attitudes towards sex in the 1970s meant ‘sex was recreational, sometimes transactional.’ 

‘I remember the time when I was starting to work – I became a model at 14 years old,’ she continued.

‘All the girls, the models, slept with the photographers and I was no exception. But sex was something normal, a natural aspect 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 photoshoot under the guise of being featured in an edition of Vogue magazine, which Polanski was set to guest-edit. 

He would serve just 42 days in jail for the attack, and after he took a plea bargain he saw charges of rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, lewd act upon a child aged 14, and furnishing a controlled substance to a minor all dropped. 

Upon learning he was likely to be imprisoned, he became a fugitive from justice and fled to France just hours before he was due to be formally sentenced. 

The Oscar-winner 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 by multiple women of sexual assault 

Samantha Geimer was just 13-years-old when she was raped by the Oscar-winning film director

The wide-ranging interview with Polanski’s wife also touched upon limitations with the #MeToo movement, which saw Geimer hit out at attorney Gloria Allred, who has taken on several notable cases of sexual assault and women’s rights. 

‘(Allred) just diminishes women to exploit their pain,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry but that is no defense.’ 

After Sieger claimed that ‘feminine desire has been denied, annihilated’, Geiger continued: ‘It’s sad for women but especially young women.

‘Imagine reaching adulthood in this era, it seems appalling to me. I don’t see what’s so feminist about claiming victimhood. 

‘Today, women’s pain is valued, and there’s a whole industry that exploits suffering. Those who participate in it don’t know what they’re stepping into.’ 

Polanski has largely remained in France over the last four decades to avoid extradition back to the United States

Samantha Geimer was just 13 when she was plied with alcohol and pills before being raped by Polanski

Geimer said that she initially didn’t feel like a victim after the infamous attack, and only later felt victimized after being hounded by the press and by repeated court appearances. 

‘If someone had something to say about Roman, about any mistreatment, 1977 would have been a really good year to help me,’ she continued.

‘Because with my family, we couldn’t even leave our house anymore! Everyone was attacking us. 

‘No one came to stand by my side and say: “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 around the world! 

‘But no, no one, not one of the women who, today, claim to have had a problem with Roman, took the trouble to contact me. 

‘And now, now that they have an urgent need to unpack everything? Who are they kidding.’

While Polanski remains wanted by law enforcement, Geimer insisted that he should have the charges against him cleared and should 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 antithesis of what I want and of all I say that I want,’ she said.

‘They think of themselves as morally superior, when they’re just taking the easy way out. The extradition attempt, the fact that Roman was arrested like that, it was so unfair and so in opposition to justice. 

‘Everyone should know by now that Roman has served his sentence. Which 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, end of story. 

‘He did everything that was asked of him until the situation went berserk he had no other choice but to flee. Anyone who thinks that he deserves to be in prison is wrong. It isn’t the case today and it wasn’t the case yesterday.’