In a recent interview with French magazine Le Point, Samantha Geimer, the victim of Roman Polanski's 1977 rape case, revealed that she never considered the incident a significant issue. Geimer, who was only 13 years old at the time, spoke with Polanski's wife Emmanuelle Seigner and expressed that the assault had no lasting impact on her.
Geimer told Seigner, as translated by IndieWire, "Let me be very clear: what happened with Polanski was never a big problem for me. I didn't even know it was illegal, that someone could be arrested for it. I was fine, I'm still fine. The fact that we've made this [a big deal] weighs on me terribly. To have to constantly repeat that it wasn't a big deal, it's a terrible burden."
In 1977, Polanski, then 43, provided Geimer with champagne and Quaaludes during a photo shoot at actor Jack Nicholson's residence before assaulting her despite her objections. Following a conviction, Polanski underwent a 90-day psychiatric evaluation before his sentencing. However, he was released after only 42 days and subsequently fled to Europe.
Swiss police detained Polanski in 2009 while he attended the Zurich Film Festival due to the United States' outstanding arrest warrant. After 10 months of detainment, Swiss authorities released Polanski, opting not to extradite him due to potential technical errors in the U.S. request and his history of traveling to Switzerland in good faith. No further charges have been brought against him.
Geimer stated that Polanski's brief time served was sufficient punishment and has repeatedly requested that the U.S. drop the charges against him. She remarked, "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."
In 1988, Geimer sued Polanski for sexual assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and seduction, but she has consistently defended him in the years since. Despite multiple rape allegations against the director, Geimer believes he has taken responsibility for the assault that occurred when she was a teenager.