Film Academy Expels Cosby, Polanski, and TV Academy Snubs Cosby

Update (2:30 P.M.): The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences—film’s governing body, which awards the Oscars—announced Thursday that it will expel Cosby, as well as Roman Polanski, from its membership. In a statement, the Academy revealed that its board members met Tuesday, and voted to expel the two men. The organization said it “continues to encourage ethical standards that require members to uphold the Academy’s values of respect for human dignity.”

Cosby was never a member of the TV Academy, according to a representative for the organization, and thus cannot be expelled from it.

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Following last month’s guilty verdict in Bill Cosby’s re-trial for sexual assault, the TV Academy has made some changes to its roster: the Academy has scrubbed the actor’s name from its Web site—and confirmed to Variety on Wednesday that a bust of Cosby that had been moved during construction on its North Hollywood campus would not be coming back anytime soon. The organization clarified, however, that it has not removed Cosby from its Television Hall of Fame; his name was removed from the online roster and nothing more. Cosby will also retain his four Emmy Awards, as the Academy has no current plans to rescind them.

Last week, some of Cosby’s accusers ran weeping from the courtroom after the guilty verdict was revealed. The comedian now faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each of the three counts—penetration with lack of consent, penetration while unconscious, and penetration after administering an intoxicant—brought by one of his accusers, Andrea Constand, who alleged he drugged and sexually assaulted her in 2004. In other words, Cosby might spend the rest of his life in prison. Meanwhile, the comedian faces additional civil suits that could lead to his financial ruin. Some 60 women have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct, though not all of them are involved in civil or criminal cases.

Following Cosby’s guilty verdict, a slow trickle of organizations have distanced themselves. Yale announced Wednesday that it would revoke the actor’s honorary degree—the first time the university has ever done so in its history. Cosby’s alma mater, Temple University, did the same thing last week, rescinding Cosby’s honorary doctorate alongside Yale and three other universities. And the Atlanta-based Bounce TV, one of the few networks that has continued to air Cosby Show reruns, has announced that it will no longer do so.

Though his upcoming sentencing is likely top of mind for the comedian, this week’s events show that his fall from grace is far from over.