International- A civil rape trial in the case against filmmaker Paul Haggis got underway in New York on Wednesday.
- Haleigh Breest is suing Haggis, alleging he raped her at his Manhattan apartment in January 2013.
Oscar-winning filmmaker Paul Haggis can't take no for an answer and used his fame to prey on vulnerable women, a lawyer for his accuser told a Manhattan jury as opening statements got underway in his civil rape trial on Wednesday.
Publicist Haleigh Breest, who alleges the "Crash" writer and director raped her at his Manhattan apartment in January 2013, sued Haggis at the height of the Me Too movement in 2017 after Haggis came out publicly to criticize Harvey Weinstein. The "hypocrisy made her blood boil," Breest's attorney, Zoe Salzman, told the jury of six women and three men.
Haggis claims the encounter with Breest was consensual.
Priya Chaudhry, an attorney for Haggis, countered that the evidence would show that Breest is lying and that the Church of Scientology might be behind her accusation.
But Salzman detailed four other women's allegations of similar encounters with Haggis and described a pattern of fear caused by Haggis' power in the film industry. She said Breest and the four women would all testify at the trial.
"Paul Haggis doesn't stop when women say no," she said, and he "used his storytelling skills and his fame to prey on, to manipulate, and to attack vulnerable women in the industry."
"He doesn't care about consent," she said.
Haggis raped Breest after a film premiere when Haggis "lured" her back to his apartment for a drink and made a pass at her, despite her repeatedly saying she wasn't interested, Salzman said. Eventually, she said, he led Breest into a bedroom where he forced her to give him oral sex and raped her.
Salzman said the evidence will show Breest discussed the encounter with friends in the days and weeks after the alleged assault and that Breest's anxiety "spiked" after the Haggis encounter, making it hard to be alone with men and giving her "flashbacks" during the one time she's attempted to have intercourse since then.
The trial for assault, battery, rape, a criminal sexual act, aggravated sexual abuse and violating New York City law on gender-motivated violence is taking place in New York Supreme Court. Breest is asking for unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
Addressing the likelihood that Haggis' lawyers would try and pin Breest's lawsuit on the Church of Scientology, which Haggis broke with publicly in 2009, Salzman said Haggis has already admitted he doesn't have evidence to prove that theory.
And while the burden of proof is not on Haggis to show that Scientology is to blame, Chaudhry said the circumstantial evidence will be "strong."
"The Church of Scientology is very successful at destroying its enemies without leaving a single fingerprint behind," Chaudhry said.
Chaudhry continued: "You may never know if Haleigh Breest is lying at the behest of Scientology or if she's lying to get Paul's money or she's lying for some other reason, but the evidence will show that she's lying."