{"id":508754,"date":"2022-11-11T01:28:39","date_gmt":"2022-11-10T22:28:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/filmmaker-paul-haggis-liable-for-7-5m-in-rape-suit\/"},"modified":"2022-11-11T01:28:39","modified_gmt":"2022-11-10T22:28:39","slug":"filmmaker-paul-haggis-liable-for-7-5m-in-rape-suit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/filmmaker-paul-haggis-liable-for-7-5m-in-rape-suit\/","title":{"rendered":"#Filmmaker Paul Haggis liable for $7.5M in rape suit"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a412cd41b4d1\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a412cd41b4d1\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/filmmaker-paul-haggis-liable-for-7-5m-in-rape-suit\/#Filmmaker_Paul_Haggis_liable_for_75M_in_rape_suit\" >Filmmaker Paul Haggis liable for $7.5M in rape suit<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Filmmaker_Paul_Haggis_liable_for_75M_in_rape_suit\"><\/span>Filmmaker Paul Haggis liable for $7.5M in rape suit<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 A jury ordered Academy Award-winning filmmaker Paul Haggis Thursday to pay at least $7.5 million to a woman who accused him of rape in one of several #MeToo-era cases that have put Hollywood notables\u2019 behavior on trial this fall. The jury also plans to award additional punitive damages.<\/p>\n<p>Veering from sex to red-carpet <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a>izing to Scientology, the civil court trial pitted Haggis, known for writing best picture Oscar winners \u201cMillion Dollar Baby\u201d and \u201cCrash,\u201d against Haleigh Breest, a publicist who met him while working at movie premieres in the early 2010s. After a screening afterparty in January 2013, he offered her a lift home and invited her to his New York apartment for a drink.<\/p>\n<p>After hugging her lawyers, Breest said she was \u201cvery grateful\u201d for the verdict as she left court. Haggis declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p>He sat stock-still as the verdict was read, then turned to look at his three adult daughters in the courtroom audience. One had been crying on a sister&#8217;s shoulder.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/69a76bde954477ca6aa462463aa2bec0\" data-ylk=\"slk:Breest, 36, said\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">Breest, 36, said<\/a> Haggis then subjected her to unwanted advances and ultimately compelled her to perform oral sex and raped her despite her entreaties to stop. <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/entertainment-religion-movies-lawsuits-f90efa0fccfeab68dd560322862e9807\" data-ylk=\"slk:Haggis, 69, said\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">Haggis, 69, said<\/a> the publicist was <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/entertainment-religion-movies-lawsuits-354a0b65046109b194efbffc0ee773ef\" data-ylk=\"slk:flirtatious\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">flirtatious<\/a> and, while sometimes seeming \u201cconflicted,\u201d initiated kisses and oral sex in an entirely consensual interaction. He said he couldn\u2019t recall whether they had intercourse.<\/p>\n<p>Jurors sided with Breest, who said she suffered psychological and professional consequences from her encounter with Haggis. She sued in late 2017.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought I was getting a ride home. I agreed to have a drink. What h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ened never should have happened. And it had nothing to do with me, and everything to do with him and his actions,\u201d she told jurors last month.<\/p>\n<p>While awarding her $7.5 million to compensate for suffering, the jury concluded that punitive damages should also be awarded. Jurors return Monday for more court proceedings to help them decide that amount.<\/p>\n<p>The verdict came weeks after another civil jury, in the federal courthouse next door, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/entertainment-anthony-rapp-manhattan-kevin-spacey-910b90edbb92f00c7461809b13b8e782\" data-ylk=\"slk:decided that Kevin Spacey\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">decided that Kevin Spacey<\/a> didn\u2019t sexually abuse fellow actor and then-teenager Anthony Rapp in 1986. Meanwhile, \u201cThat \u201970s Show\u201d actor <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/danny-masterson-rape-trial-los-angeles-1a8865566b670cfcd810920f86c6ceb8\" data-ylk=\"slk:Danny Masterson\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">Danny Masterson<\/a> and former movie magnate <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/harvey-weinstein-new-york-california-los-angeles-53c835acdd051de582cae41202d709a6\" data-ylk=\"slk:Harvey Weinstein\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">Harvey Weinstein<\/a> are on trial, separately, on criminal rape charges in Los Angeles. Both deny the allegations, and Weinstein is appealing a conviction in New York.<\/p>\n<p>All four cases followed the #MeToo upwelling of denunciations, disclosures and demands for accountability about sexual misconduct, triggered by October 2017 <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> reports on decades of allegations about Weinstein.<\/p>\n<p>Breest, in particular, said she decided to sue Haggis because his public condemnations of Weinstein infuriated her: \u201cThis man raped me, and he is presenting himself as a champion of women to the world,\u201d she recalled thinking.<\/p>\n<p>Four other women also testified that they experienced forceful, unwelcome passes \u2014 and in one case, rape \u2014 by Haggis in separate encounters going back to 1996. None of the four took legal action.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe behavior showed me that he was somebody who was never going to stop,\u201d one woman testified, saying that Haggis repeatedly tried to kiss her against her will and even followed her into and out of a taxi to her apartment in Toronto in 2015. His lawyers sought to assail the accusers\u2019 credibility.<\/p>\n<p>The Associated Press <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>ly does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Breest has done.<\/p>\n<p>Haggis denied all of the allegations. He told jurors the accusations <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/entertainment-paul-haggis-66d9deb629819e633c00168660626733\" data-ylk=\"slk:left him shaken\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">left him shaken<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m scared because I don\u2019t know why women, why anyone, would lie about things like this,\u201d he said. His defense, meanwhile, introduced jurors to several women \u2014 including ex-wife and former longtime \u201cDallas\u201d cast member Deborah Rennard \u2014 who said the screenwriter-director took it in stride when they rebuffed his romantic or sexual overtures.<\/p>\n<p>During three weeks of testimony, the trial scrutinized <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/entertainment-paul-haggis-new-york-movies-69a76bde954477ca6aa462463aa2bec0\" data-ylk=\"slk:text messages\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">text messages<\/a> that Breest sent to friends about what happened with Haggis, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/paul-haggis-lawsuits-df6ee0ae36ad81ef1098dc5899156c93\" data-ylk=\"slk:emails between them\" class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp\">emails between them<\/a> before and after the night in question, and some differences between their testimony and what they said in early court papers.<\/p>\n<p>The two sides debated whether Haggis was physically capable of carrying out the alleged attack eight weeks after a spinal surgery. Psychology experts offered dueling perspectives about what one called widespread misconceptions about rape victims\u2019 behavior, such as assumptions that victims would have no subsequent contact with their attackers.<\/p>\n<p>And jurors heard extensive testimony about the Church of Scientology, the religion founded by <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"5\" title=\"Science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">science<\/a> fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard in the 1950s. Haggis was an adherent for decades before publicly renouncing, and denouncing, Scientology in 2009.<\/p>\n<p>Through testimony from Haggis and other ex-members, his defense argued that the church set out to discredit him and might have had something to do with the lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>No witnesses said they knew that Haggis\u2019 accusers or Breest\u2019s lawyers had Scientology ties, and his lawyers acknowledged that Breest herself does not. Still, Haggis lawyer Priya Chaudhry sought to persuade jurors that there were \u201cthe footprints, though maybe not the fingerprints, of Scientology\u2019s involvement here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The church said in a statement that it has no involvement in the matter, arguing that Haggis is trying to shame his accusers with an \u201cabsurd and patently false\u201d claim. Breest\u2019s lawyers have called it \u201ca shameful and unsupported conspiracy theory.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Canadian-born Haggis got his start as a TV writer, eventually penning episodes of such well-known 1980s <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a> as \u201cDiff\u2019rent Strokes\u201d and \u201cThirtysomething.\u201d He broke into movies with a splash with \u201cMillion Dollar Baby\u201d and \u201cCrash,\u201d which he also directed and co-produced. Each film won the Academy Award for best picture, for 2004 and 2005 respectively, and Haggis also won a screenwriting Oscar for \u201cCrash.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His other credits include the Oscar-nominated screenplay for \u201cLetters From Iwo Jima\u201d and the screenplays for the James Bond movies \u201cCasino Royale\u201d and \u201cQuantum of Solace.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aol.com\/entertainment\/jury-filmmaker-haggis-liable-7-222839408.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Filmmaker Paul Haggis liable for $7.5M in rape suit NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 A jury ordered Academy Award-winning filmmaker Paul Haggis Thursday to pay at least $7.5 million to a woman who accused him of rape in one of several #MeToo-era cases that have put Hollywood notables\u2019 behavior on trial this fall. The jury also&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":508755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/p6c61f8fDqIz9.VTFPkrdA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyMDA7aD04MDA-\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/ap.org\/60daa57f156ae6a9c0c03a34e8f82722","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-508754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}