In 2017, Polanski was named to preside over the awards ceremony but stepped down after a wave of outrage.
Franck Riester’s comments came hours after Polanski, 87, said he would not attend Friday’s awards ceremony for fear of being subject to a “public lynching” by feminists.
Earlier, protestors sprayed anti-Polanski graffiti outside the venue and the headquarters of the French film academy, the Académie des Césars.
On Friday evening, police shot teargas after protesters pulled down a barrier outside the Salle Pleyel concert hall, where the awards ceremony was taking place.