On 14 May 2010, Lewis and her Los Angeles-based
attorney Gloria Allred accused
Roman Polanski of having sexually assaulted Lewis when she was 16 years old, while the two were working on
Pirates. Prosecutors in Los Angeles confirmed that they interviewed Lewis in connection with the allegations. According to Lewis, the incident occurred at Polanski's Paris apartment in 1983. On 17 May 2010, an article called into question Lewis' testimony by referencing an account of events she gave in an interview with the UK's
News of the World, in which she had spoken of a relationship with Polanski, along with several other actors. Later, in December 2019, French magazine
L’Obs came back to the
News of the World story, relating a "violent campaign to discredit her" in the media. Charlotte Lewis said: "I was completely alone in 2010. No one believed me. They said I was a prostitute, a liar. I'm a little anxious to talk. The media got me so depressed." Lewis filed a claim for defamation, and Polanski was charged under French law. She told the court, which specialised in media cases, and was concerned with the defamation and not the rape allegation, that she had become the victim of a "
smear campaign" that "nearly destroyed" her life. Polanski did not attend any of the hearings, including the verdict given in his favour in May 2024, when he was acquitted of the defamation. == Filmography ==