Oscar-winning director Paul Haggis to face trial in New York over publicist's rape allegation

• Jury selection begins Monday in a New York lawsuit involving the filmmaker Paul Haggis.
• Haleigh Breest, a publicist, has accused Haggis of raping her at his Manhattan apartment in 2013.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker Paul Haggis is set to face trial Monday over an allegation he raped a film publicist at his Manhattan apartment in 2013.

Haleigh Breest sued the "Crash" writer and director at the height of the Me Too movement in 2017, alleging in court documents that Haggis invited her back to his apartment after an event in January 2013 and sexually assaulted her. Breest is accusing him of assault, battery, rape, a criminal sexual act, aggravated sexual abuse and violating New York City law on gender-motivated violence. She's asking for unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Haggis has acknowledged that he had sex with Breest but says the act was consensual, despite her claims that she repeatedly told him "No."

In the wake of Breest's lawsuit, four other women have come forward with similar stories of being preyed on by Haggis, and they're are expected to testify at the trial. Jane Doe No. 1 said she was raped by Haggis in 1996 during a late-night meeting at her office where she worked as a publicist. The three other Jane Does described escaping Haggis after he forcibly kissed them. Two of them said they were cornered by Haggis at film festivals, and a third accuser said the incident occurred at Haggis' office.

Over the summer, Haggis was held under house arrest in Italy after another woman accused him of raping her over a two-day period. But prosecutors appeared to struggle to build a strong enough case. Charges were never filed, and a judge eventually released Haggis from house arrest.

Judge Sabrina Kraus, who is presiding over the New York case, ruled that Haggis' Italian arrest could not be mentioned at trial since the allegations have not been substantiated and were insufficient to keep him under arrest.

Haggis' legal team won the right to argue at trial that the sexual-misconduct allegations are part of a Church of Scientology plot to discredit him. The church previously told Insider that the claim was "absurd and patently false."

Haggis split from the church in 2009 and went on to become one of its fiercest critics.

Zoe Salzman, one of Breest's attorneys, told Insider on Wednesday that she's dubious Haggis' legal team will be able to convince the jury that the lawsuit is a conspiracy manufactured by Scientologists.

Salzman said that if Haggis had the evidence to prove the Scientology theory "we would have seen it by now," since they've been litigating the case for the past five years.

"He's certainly been very aggressive in press outreach, and if he had something to show you all on that front, I'm sure he would have been widely disseminating that, and obviously that has not happened. In the many years of discovery and motions — it's been a very active litigation — we've never seen any evidence of it," Salzman said.

She added: "Haleigh has been waiting many years to hold Mr. Haggis accountable in a court of law and she and her legal team look forward to doing so."

Lawyers for Haggis did not return Insider's request for an interview.

Haggis' 2004 film "Crash," which he wrote, directed, and produced, won the Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay awards at the Oscars that year. Haggis was nominated for screenwriting Oscars for the films "Million Dollar Baby" and "Letters From Iwo Jima." He's also known for writing the James Bond films "Casino Royale" and "Quantum of Solace."

Jury selection begins Monday in New York Supreme Court, and the trial is expected to last two weeks.