Jury finds filmmaker Paul Haggis liable for rape of publicist, awarding her $10 million in damages

Publish date: 2024-06-18
2022-11-15T15:09:57Z

A New York City jury has ordered filmmaker Paul Haggis to pay $10 million in compensatory and punitive damages for raping publicist Haleigh Breest.

The verdict brought to a close Breest's 2017 lawsuit, filed at the height of the Me Too movement. Breest had accused Haggis of assault, battery, rape, a criminal sexual act, aggravated sexual abuse and violating New York City law on gender-motivated violence in New York Supreme Court.

The jury of three men and three women came to their decision to award Breest $7.5 million in compensatory damages after nearly six hours of deliberations Thursday. They met again on Monday and determined that Haggis would have to pay $2.5 million in punitive damages.

Breest's attorneys, Zoe Salzman and Ilann Maazel, issued a statement following the verdict on Thursday saying they were "pleased to see justice served for our client, Haleigh Breest."

"After the jury heard a mountain of undeniable evidence against Mr. Haggis, they did the right thing and held him accountable for his deplorable behavior. We commend Ms. Breest for the bravery it took to come forward. She stood up for herself and for all women," Salzman and Maazel added in their statement. 

Priya Chaudhry, one of Haggis' attorneys, is sed a statement saying her team was "disappointed and shocked by this verdict." 

She complained specifically about the four other women who testified with similar accusations against Haggis, pointing out that none of the women ever went to the police. 

"It was impossible for Mr. Haggis to get a fair trial once the judge allowed the statements of 4 other women who never went to the police, never took any action against him, and 3 of 4 never even came into the courtroom. 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. No one could have had a fair trial in that courtroom under those circumstances. This is a shameful exploitation of the #MeToo movement where political sentiment trumps facts," Chaudhry said. 

Breest testified that Haggis raped her at his SoHo apartment in January 2013, and she decided to sue him four years later when she saw the "Crash" writer and director condemn Harvey Weinstein in a tweet after several women came forward to accuse the producer of sexual misconduct. 

"The hypocrisy was next level," Breest said on the stand. "It made me extremely upset and want to take action. I spoke to friends, did research, and then hired lawyers."

Haggis never denied having sex with Breest but said the encounter was consensual.

His lawyers tried to convince the jury that the Church of Scientology was behind Breest's complaint. Haggis was a member of the church for more than three decades before publicly breaking with Scientology in 2009. He has since become one of the religion's most vocal critics. 

During the trial, actress and fellow ex-Scientologist Leah Remini testified in Haggis' defense, saying she believed that Haggis was the "real" victim in the case. She described how the Scientologists came after her when she left the religion and tried to force her into silence with the threat of lawsuits and attack videos from her own family members who were still in the church. 

"They gather anything they can to hurt you and it does hurt," Remini said.

However, even Haggis' lawyers were forced to admit in court that they had no evidence linking Breest — or any of the other four women who testified about similar encounters with Haggis — to Scientology. 

The church did not immediately return Insider's request for comment following the verdict on Thursday. In previous statements, the church denied having anything to do with the case.

"The church has nothing to do with the claims against Haggis nor does it have any relation to the attorneys behind the case or the accusers," a Scientology spokesperson told Insider previously. "From day one, Haggis conspired with anti-Scientologists to shame his own accusers by 'accusing' them of making their claims on behalf of the Church of Scientology. The claim is absurd and patently false."

The jury ultimately decided that Breest's lawyers proved with a preponderance of the evidence that Haggis raped her at his apartment the night of January 31, 2013.

Breest and Haggis met through her freelance work for the Cinema Society, an organization that hosts film premieres in New York City. 

After an event, Breest said Haggis invited her back to his apartment for a nightcap, and she agreed to go despite misgivings because he was a powerful man in her industry. 

At the apartment, Breest said Haggis forcibly kissed her and then ordered her to give him oral sex. She says she felt like a "trapped animal" as Haggis eventually proceeded to rape her vaginally. She produced the tights that she wore that night, which were analyzed and found to contain Haggis' seminal fluid. 

Haggis said he had no memory of the two having vaginal sex, but said that Breest initiated giving him oral sex before he fell asleep. While he maintained the encounter was consensual, he admitted on the stand that Breest expressed hesitation throughout the night but thought she was being "playful." 

Breest, 36, spoke about being so damaged by the attack that she's only had sex one time since then, and it brought back the trauma of her night with Haggis. 

November 15, 2022: This story has been updated to include punitive damages and a statement from Haggis' attorneys. 

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