Numerous actresses walked out of the César awards in Paris Friday evening after prominent film director Roman Polanski won best director.

The moment sparked outrage amongst several actresses in Salle Pleyel Hall, where the award ceremony took place. Polanski is infamous for fleeing the U.S. in 1978 after being convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl, with several other allegations since then, according to Variety.

Polanksi's film, An Officer and a Spy, or J'accuse in French, won three awards on Friday night.

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Actress Adèle Haenel, who has said she was sexually abused as a minor by a different director, was one of the women who stepped out of the ceremony, saying "Shame!" after Polanski's win was announced.

A l'annonce du César de la Meilleure Réalisation pour Roman Polanski ("J'accuse"), Adèle Haenel quitte la salle.



Le meilleur des #César2020 > https://t.co/ipnVwouBeV pic.twitter.com/7xa0CTbU3H — CANAL+ (@canalplus) February 28, 2020

A presenter at the ceremony, actress and comedian Florence Foresti, did not come back to the stage after Polanski's win. She updated her Instagram story after the event to a black screen with the word "disgusted."

Before the ceremony, France's culture minister Franck Riester said it would be "symbolically bad" for Polanksi to win the best director award, "given the stance we must take against sexual and sexist violence," the BBC reported.

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Last month, everyone on the César's board resigned due to backlash over Polanski's nominations. The board previously defended its decision, saying that the body "should not take moral positions" in giving awards.

Back in September, Polanksi won the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. Two months after the win, former actress Valentine Monnier accused Polanksi of an "extremely violent" assault and rape in 1975 when she was 18-years-old, according to the BBC.

The director denied the claims made by Monnier.

Polanski stated in December that he had tried to distance himself from the proposals for a boycott of his movie.

"For years, people have tried to make me out as a monster," he said. "I'm used to the slander, and I've grown a thick skin, which is as hard as a shell."

Despite the severe backlash from prominent figures, the 86-year-old director's film J'accuse was a box office success, raking in an estimated $1.6 million, according to Variety.

Polanski holds French and Polish citizenship and has avoided different extradition attempts by U.S. authorities. France does not extradite its citizens, and a Polish court also denied a U.S. extradition call when he was filming in Krakow in 2015.