Paul Haggis set to testify in ongoing sexual assault trial in New York
Paul Haggis is a two-time Oscar winner.
Canadian screenwriter, producer, and director Paul Haggis is set to testify on Wednesday (November 2) in a civil sexual assault case in New York, reported Deadline. Haggis was one of those men in Hollywood and other fields who were accused of rape, sexual harassment, or sexual misconduct during the #MeToo movement. A woman called Haleigh Breest filed a lawsuit against him in December 2017, as per Variety. In response, Haggis denied all accusations and filed a counter-suit, and said Breest was trying to get a $9 million settlement from him, but the court dismissed his suit. Breest has accused Haggis of forcing unprotected oral sex and intercourse in separate incidents.
Breest's lawsuit was earlier delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Oscar-winner's lawyer Seth Zuckerman said that the screenwriter's ex-wife Deborah Rennard will testify first, followed by Haggis. Until now, there have been 10 days of testimonies. Haggis was arrested in June this year in Ostuni, Southern Italy for allegations related to sexual assault.
Earlier, four other women testified that Haggis sexually assaulted them in separate incidents from 1996 to 2015.
Haggis, who is a big name in Hollywood, having won two Oscars and two Emmys, has maintained that all sex was consensual and that he never coerced any woman into sex.
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