The Roman Polanski sexual assault case (1977) appears in Andy Warhol’s diary as a sequence of observations rather than a sustained account of the proceedings: first, a newspaper headline and brief description of the accusation; later, a note that Polanski was out on bail and present at the Academy Awards. Together, the entries show how the diary caught public scandal as it surfaced in Warhol’s daily life, while leaving the case’s legal outcome outside its frame.

The case enters the diary

On March 12, 1977, Warhol recorded seeing a newspaper headline reporting that a movie director had been charged with rape, identifying the director as Roman Polanski. His entry said that the girl was thirteen and had been taken to a party at Jack Nicholson’s house. It also noted that police went to the house the following day after her parents contacted them. The diary gives this information as Warhol encountered it in the news; it does not independently establish the allegation or detail the investigation.

A later appearance at the Academy Awards

In a later entry concerning the Academy Awards, Warhol noted that Polanski was out on bail in connection with the case and had attended the ceremony. The same account records a separate report of Polanski making a threat of sexual violence toward a woman there. This second mention shifts the diary’s focus from the newspaper account of the case to Polanski’s presence in a public, high-profile setting, without supplying further information about either report.

The diary’s perspective and limits

The case is preserved through Warhol’s personal daily record, not as a chronological or comprehensive account of the legal proceedings. By 1976, the diary’s entries were based on Warhol’s own recollections, which he recounted to Pat Hackett during weekday morning calls; Hackett took notes and typed them, while receipts and expense details were also incorporated into the record. The published text further reflects editorial choices: Hackett removed most references that belonged only to their private exchanges and recast a small number of retained references in the third person. These layers help explain why the case appears as a few concise, situated observations rather than a full narrative.

Significance in the record

The two mentions preserve distinct moments: the initial report of the charge and the later awareness that Polanski was out on bail and appearing at the awards ceremony. The diary provides no account of a verdict or other resolution. Its value here lies in recording how the case intersected with Warhol’s view of the news and public life, while its brevity marks the boundary between a personal diary and a legal history.