Paul Haggis accuser Haleigh Breest testifies he 'slobbered' and pinned her before raping
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Oscar-winning director Paul Haggis is facing a civil trial in New York for the alleged rape case that took place in 2013 at his Soho apartment. The victim, Haleigh Breest, who was a former publicist shared more light on the reported attack on her on Thursday, October 20.
Breest’s attorney, Zoe Salzman, had told the jury on Wednesday, October 19, that Breest, 36, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from the alleged rape, so much so that she has only attempted to have sex a single time since the incident that took place nearly 10 years ago, and couldn’t do it.
READ MORE
Jada Pinkett reveals Will Smith still takes trips with ex-wife Sheree Zampino when she isn't around
The attorney added that Breest kept having severe “flashbacks“ that didn’t allow her to do so. However, Haggis' attorney, Priya Chaundhry, claimed that the victim’s story has changed several times in the past. The attorney alleges Breest had texted a friend “to brag about the oral sex“ she performed on Haggis that day. Chaundhry added that she had fabricated her claims to milk “a lot of money“ from Haggis.
Haggis had been accused of sexual assault by multiple victims, but Breest decided to take him to court. She shared how the 'Crash' director got “agitated“ when she suggested that they should go to a public bar instead of his Manhattan home. “I didn't want to go to his apartment,” Breest told the jury.
The 69-year-old director has always maintained that the sex was consensual, and further alleged that many other false allegations were hurled at him ever since he decided to leave the Church of Scientology in 2009. The reported attack by the Church of Scientology will likely remain his major defense in the case, reports Daily Mail.
Breest filed her civil suit against Haggis amid the rising social movement #MeToo, when she alleged that the co-writer of ‘Quantum of Solace’ raped her on January 31, 2013, at age 26. In her testimony, the then freelancing publicist recalled the director “slobbered“ while pinning her against the refrigerator and touching her lips. “I said, 'How about that wine?' I wanted to remind him why I was there, for a drink, and wanted to let him know without offending him.” She further said, “He was an important guest. He was a friend of my boss and I didn't want to make an enemy.”
Dr Catherine Baker-Pitts, a therapist who treated Breest between 2017 and 2019 testified in the court, that she “lived in a constant state of fear.“ A publicist for a Canadian TV show was the first witness at the trial who had testified, via a video clip from 2019, against Haggis for raping her while they were working on the show 'Due South'. She is one among Haggis' four accusers, where two are anticipated to testify against him.