Polanski did make advances, editor testifies

A New York magazine editor testified Wednesday that Roman Polanski made “tasteless and vulgar” advances to a woman at a Manhattan restaurant shortly after the death of his wife, Sharon Tate.

Testifying in London in Polanski’s libel lawsuit against publisher Conde Nast, Lewis Lapham, editor of Harper’s magazine, confirmed that he was the source of an anecdote related in a 2002 article in Vanity Fair magazine.

The article reported that Polanski had tried to seduce a woman at Elaine’s restaurant while he was traveling to Los Angeles for his wife’s funeral. Tate, who was pregnant, was killed by followers of serial killer Charles Manson in August 1969.

Polanski, who testified Monday by video link from Paris, called the story “an abominable lie” that “dishonors my memory of Sharon.”

Conde Nast now accepts that the incident didn’t happen before Tate’s funeral but says it was about two weeks later. The publisher maintains the article is substantially true.