Case vs. Paul Haggis joins month of Hollywood #MeToo trials

Jurors got their first look Wednesday at a lawsuit that pits Oscar-winning moviemaker Paul Haggis against a publicist who alleges that he raped her, the latest in a lineup of #MeToo-era trials involving Hollywood figures this fall.

Opening statements in the civil case against Haggis began Wednesday in a New York state court. The federal court next door is housing a trial in a lawsuit accusing Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey of sexual assault. In Los Angeles, former film mogul Harvey Weinstein and “That '70s Show” actor Danny Masterson are fighting criminal rape charges at separate trials down the hall from each other (Weinstein is already serving a 23-year sentence on a New York conviction). All of the men deny the allegations.

The confluence of trials is a coincidence, but it makes for something of a #MeToo moment five years after allegations against Weinstein triggered a dam break of sexual misconduct accusations in Hollywood and beyond and catalyzed an ongoing movement to demand accountability.

“We’re still very early on in this time of reckoning," said Debra Katz, a Washington-based lawyer who has represented many sexual assault accusers. She isn’t involved in any of the four trials.

In the case against Haggis, publicist Haleigh Breest claims that the “Crash” and “Million Dollar Baby” screenwriter forced her to perform oral sex and raped her after she reluctantly agreed to a drink in his apartment after a 2013 movie premiere. She had been tasked with greeting him and other celebrity guests.

Because of Haggis was well connected in their industry, she was afraid to tell police or her boss what had happened, but she informed multiple friends in the subsequent days and months, her lawyer Zoe Salzman said in her opening statement.

“He was so rough and aggressive. Never, ever again,” Breest texted one friend the day after the alleged attack, according to her attorney. ”And I kept saying no.”

Jurors will also hear from four other women who have accused Haggis of sexually assaulting them, or attempting to do so, in separate encounters between 1996 and 2015.

“Mr. Haggis used his storytelling skills and his fame to prey on, to manipulate and to attack vulnerable young women in the film industry,” Salzman told jurors. “He doesn’t stop when women say no.”

Judge Sabrina Kraus won't allow any mention, however, of Haggis' detention in Italy for about two weeks this summer as authorities investigated a sexual assault allegation, which he denied.

Haggis' lawyers are due to give their opening statement later Wednesday. He has maintained that his encounter with Breest was consensual, and his lawyers have said he has never raped anyone.

In an unusual turn, both Haggis' case and Masterson's have become forums for scrutinizing Scientology, though from different perspectives.

Haggis’ attorneys have suggested that the church ginned up false accusations to discredit him after he split with the church and became a prominent detractor. The church denies any involvement, and Breest’s lawyers have called the notion a baseless conspiracy theory and a smokescreen meant to obscure Haggis' conduct.

“Scientology has nothing to do with this case,” Salzman told jurors.

Haggis says he was Scientologist for three decades before leaving the church in 2009. He slammed it as “a cult” in a 2011 New Yorker article that later informed a book and an HBO documentary, and he foreshadowed that retribution would come in the form of "a scandal that looks like it has nothing to do with the church.”

The church has repeatedly said that Haggis lied about its practices to grab the spotlight for himself and his career. The church didn't respond to a request for comment.

Masterson’s lawyer, meanwhile, is asking jurors to disregard the actor’s affiliation with Scientology, though prosecutors say the church discouraged two of his three accusers from going to authorities. All three are former members.

In 1950, science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard wrote “Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health,” which became a foundational text for the Church of Scientology. The religion, which has gained the following of celebrities such as Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley, is a system of beliefs, teachings and rituals focused on spiritual betterment.

Born and raised in Canada, Haggis got his Hollywood start as as TV writer and moved on to movies including “Million Dollar Baby” and “Crash,” which won back-to-back Academy Awards for best picture in the mid-2000s. He also directed and was a producer of “Crash,” which garnered him and Bobby Moresco the best original screenplay Oscar in 2006.

In a sworn statement last year, Haggis said his career nosedived and his finances cratered after Breest sued him in 2017.

The Associated Press does not usually name people alleging sexual assault unless they come forward publicly, as Breest has done. She is seeking unspecified damages.