Film Academy votes to expel Bill Cosby, Roman Polanski
LOS ANGELES -- The fallout from Bill Cosby's guilty conviction last week is growing to include others accused of sexual misconduct. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors has voted to expel Cosby and Roman Polanski from its membership.
The film academy said Thursday that its board of governors met Tuesday night and voted on their status in accordance with their Standards of Conduct.
The organization that puts on the Oscars also expelled Harvey Weinstein from its ranks in October.
Only one person is thought to have been previously expelled from the academy: Carmine Caridi, a character actor who had his membership revoked in 2004 for lending DVD screeners of films in contention for Oscars that ended up online.
Polanski remains a fugitive after fleeing the United States in 1978 after pleading guilty to unlawful sex with a minor. Cosby was convicted last week of drugging and molesting a Temple University employee, Andrea Constand, at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004.
On Tuesday, Yale revoked an honorary degree from Cosby, joining more than 20 other colleges and universities who pulled awards from him.
Cosby is not the only star to be stripped of an honorary degree. The University at Buffalo revoked an honorary degree from Weinstein, and Fordham University pulled an honor from fired "CBS This Morning" co-host Charlie Rose.
