Following the news earlier this week that Bill Cosby's re-trial had seen him found guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that it is expelling him.

Director Roman Polanski, who fled to France in 1978 while awaiting sentencing for raping a 13-year-old child, has also been expelled. Polanski won the Best Director Oscar in 2003 for 'The Pianist' and will get to keep his award.

The Academy released a statement announcing that the governing board had voted to remove both men “in accordance with the organization’s standards of conduct”.

The only other people to have been expelled from the Academy have been Harvey Weinstein and actor Carmine Candi, who shared a copyrighted screener of a film with a friend, who then leaked it online.