Oscar-winning director Paul Haggis has been accused of sexual misconduct and rape, The Associated Press reported. Haggis had previously been accused of rape by publicist Haleigh Breest, who filed a lawsuit against the Crash director in December. Three other women, who refused to be named, have come forward to detail accusations of sexual harassment and rape against Haggis.
One accuser claimed that Haggis forced her to perform oral sex on him before raping her while she was working with him on a television show in 1996. She said she didn’t come forward sooner because she was worried for her career. “The power, the anger, the financial resources, you feel like you are not really a match for that,” she said.
The second accuser detailed a 2015 incident, claiming that the director forcibly kissed her before following her into a taxi. She said that Haggis sent her intimidating text messages for the next 24 hours until she blocked him. Another accuser said that Haggis tried to kiss her when she met him while pitching him a TV show idea in his office.
Haggis rose to fame for writing and directing Crash (2004), for which he won two Oscars. He has written the screenplays for Million Dollar Baby (2004), Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008) and directed In the Valley of Elah (2007) and The Next Three Days (2010). Haggis is also the creator of television series Due South.
Haggis’s lawyer has denied all the accusations of rape against him. “In a society where one of a person’s fundamental rights is the ability to confront an accuser, that right has now been eviscerated when it comes to anyone being charged in the press with any sort of sexual misconduct,” the lawyer’s statement read.
Haggis has also filed a counter-complaint to Breest’s lawsuit, saying that she and her lawyer had demanded a $9 million payment to avoid legal action, a move that he termed as “extortion”.
In an interview to The Guardian last year after accusations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein came to light, Haggis had said, “A lot of people are compromised by Harvey’s alleged actions. Although everyone thinks it is vile behavior, you have got to focus on those who may have colluded and protected him. For me, they are as guilty as he is and in some cases more so, if I can say that. I mean, he was a predator and a predator is a predator. But what about those who would rather look the other way?”