Oscar-winning filmmaker Paul Haggis ordered to pay US$7.5 million in civil rape case
- Jurors ruled against Paul Haggis, who wrote and directed Crash, in rape lawsuit following a trial in Manhattan
- The 69-year-old Oscar winner was accused by film publicist Haleigh Breest of abusing and raping her in 2013
A New York jury found Oscar-winning screenwriter and director Paul Haggis liable for raping a publicist at his Manhattan flat in 2013, ordering him to pay at least US$7.5 million in damages in the civil case, a lawyer said.
The verdict came after a 15-day civil trial in Manhattan state court. Plaintiff Haleigh Breest alleged in a 2017 complaint that Haggis, known for writing the films Million Dollar Baby and Crash, raped her after pressuring her to join him at his SoHo loft following a movie premier.
Breest, 36, was one of four women who publicly accused Haggis of sexual misconduct in 2018. Haggis denied the allegations.
Jurors will return to court on Monday to weigh punitive damages. Haggis, 69, does not face criminal charges in the case.
“Justice was done today,’ Breest’s lawyer Ilann M. Maaze said in an email. “We are so proud of Haleigh. This is a great victory for her and for the entire #MeToo movement.”
Haggis’ lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, said the trial was not fair because the judge allowed statements from other women who accused Haggis but never took action against him.
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“They used this to distort the truth, assassinate Mr Haggis’ character, paint him as a monster, and use a ‘where there’s smoke, there’s fire’ strategy,” Chaudhry said in a statement.
During the trial, the filmmaker’s lawyers also suggested that Breest’s suit was guided by the Church of Scientology, which Haggis left and has since criticised, according to US media.
The plaintiff’s lawyers denied the accusation.
In June, Haggis was arrested by Italian authorities and held in custody for more than two weeks on charges of sexual assault and aggravated personal injury. Haggis has denied the allegations.
Meanwhile, That ’70s Show actor Danny Masterson and former movie magnate Harvey Weinstein are on trial, separately, on criminal rape charges in Los Angeles. Both deny the allegations, and Weinstein is appealing a conviction in New York.
All four cases followed the #MeToo upwelling of denunciations, disclosures and demands for accountability about sexual misconduct, triggered by October 2017 news reports on decades of allegations about Weinstein.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse and Associated Press
