Both women’s groups and government officials had protested the French Cesars Academy’s choice of honorary host, due to Polanski’s nearly 40-year old rape of a 13-year old girl.

Polanski had been the Cesar awards’ first choice to host this year. The academy said it will not replace him with another honorary host.

Polanski recently won a victory in Polish courts which ended the US government’s move to extradite him to the US for leaving the country before sentencing in the court case, to which he pleaded guilty.