Why was Mel Gibson blacklisted for years in Hollywood because of his controversial remarks but not Roman Polanski? Roman Polanski is successful!***

On March 10th 1977, a then 43 year old Roman Polanski raped a13 year old girl after plying her with alcohol. He was charged with 6 felonies, pled down 5 of them, fled the country, and has spent the last 46 years avoiding any country that has an extradition treaty with America.

Mel Gibson has a history of making antisemitic and racist comments, most notably going on an antisemitic tirade aimed at a police officer while being arrested for drunk driving in 2006.

So why do people defend Polanski and not Gibson?

It’s because Polanski makes money. Gibson’s history of antisemitic comments stretches back decades. And people were willing to ignore that for the star of the Lethal Weapon series. But not for the star of Signs.

The moment I personally lost any respect I ever had for Harrison Ford.

But Polanski never had that fall from grace. The man was always, and still is, considered an auteur. A genius. And in Hollywood you’re considered beyond reproach as long as you’re successful.

This is why Harrison Ford flew to France to hand deliver him an Oscar. Why Whoopi Goldberg defended him by saying it wasn’t “rape rape”. Why dozens of celebrities, including such beloved figures as Wes Andersen and Guillermo Del Toro, signed a petition protesting his arrest at the Zurich Film Festival.

You know who else defended Polanski? Harvey Weinstein. The man for whom the phrase “Me Too” was coined. And if we can put on our tin foil hats for a moment, there’s another reason people defend Polanski. They don’t think he did anything wrong.

Hollywood is a Hell hole. The massive influx of money, mixed with an endless parade of desperate would be creatives, creates an easily exploitable imbalance of power. Men like Polanski and Weinstein are the ones that got caught. But nothing they did is that out of the ordinary.

Your average Hollywood actor, writer or director has probably turned their eye to countless instances of statutory rape, date rape, and coercion. To the point that it no longer registers as anything immoral. Just part of the business.

So why would they blacklist Polanski if he’s not doing anything wrong?

This sorts of institutionalized corruption is sadly all too common. Animation icon John Kricfalusi used to bring his 16 year old “girlfriend” to the Spümcø animation studio all the time. They met when she was 13 and he was 39. Not a single animator had a problem with it./.