A former independent television producer testified Thursday that Paul Haggis assaulted and attempted to rape her at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.
Jurors in a lower Manhattan courtroom watched a 2019 video of the woman, who recalled feeling frightened both physically and emotionally at the time of their meeting. She alleges that Haggis, the Academy Award-winning writer and director of Crash, was sexually stalked “relentlessly” before she was able to escape to her apartment building after an event at TIFF.
“It made me feel like someone to not only be emotionally afraid of, but someone to be physically afraid of,” she said in her testimony. “My personal well-being was in danger. It was a terrifying feeling.”
Haggis is battling a civil rape lawsuit from former film publicist Halle Priest, who alleges the director forced her to have oral sex with him and then raped her in his Soho apartment in 2013 after a movie premiere.
So far, four other women, all of whom prefer not to be identified, have accused Haggis of assault. Breest’s lawyers use their testimony to try to prove that Haggis’ alleged rape of Brest was part of a pattern of behaviour. They also hope to paint a portrait of a man who used his “story-telling skills and fame to storm, manipulate and attack vulnerable young women in the film industry”.
In the case of Jane Doe #4, she was introduced to Haggis by her president at a gathering of nonprofit artists for Peace and Justice during TIFF. The accused, who was 26 at the time, described her initial encounters with the director as a professional. But as the night went on, she sensed the dynamic shift, and became convinced that he was intentionally following her in a way that seemed “weird.”
The next day, Jane Doe said Haggis sent her an email asking for coffee in the morning, and she agreed as a professional courtesy.
“I was going to work in this industry for a long time,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to create an enemy if I didn’t have to.”
During their meeting, she recalled a growing sense of discomfort when Haggis began making “extremely degrading” comments about his ex-partner.
He used the term ‘bitch.’ She said he used the term ‘crazy actress.’ “He talks about her pleasing him and how she was the best at doing it. At that point, I started adjusting where this person’s head was.”
During her testimony, she said that it was not until that night that Haggis began pursuing her. They sat next to each other at the “Spotlight” premiere after Haggis made a few phone calls to make sure they were close in the theater. “We weren’t sitting near the people I knew,” she said. “I felt like he was being manipulated.”
During the movie’s after party, Jane Doe said she “started feeling irritable” when Haggis kept handing her drinks and following along. “He put his hand on my lower back and started introducing me to people,” she said. She finally manages to escape to the bathroom, where she remembers having prepared herself to confront Haggis about his inappropriate behavior.
“I’m not interested in being with someone who works in my field,” she said, eventually working up the courage to tell Haggis. “He looked very sad, as if something terrible had happened.”
I remembered Haggis’ response, “I didn’t want to make you feel bad,” and told him the situation was “contrived and manipulative.”
She said Haggis told her, “I’m the most manipulative man you’ll ever meet.” She claimed that Haggis grabbed her and tried to “open her mouth to kiss her” while she was calling an Uber on her phone inside. Haggis allegedly smiled after she “stepped back and backed off” and said, “That would be fine.”
Realizing she “should run away,” she said she applauded and then set off for a taxi. Before she could lock the door, though, Haggis allowed himself to enter the cabin as she repeatedly shouted, “Get out. Damn you.”
She testified, “The taxi driver sat there and Haggis said softly, ‘I’m going to put the cab back.'” I pulled my legs to my body and turned to the side and just stared out the window.
When the taxi arrived at Jane Doe’s address, Haggis also got off the car and paid the driver in cash before following her to the door. Before she could get in by herself, Haggis forcibly grabbed her and tried to kiss her again, she claimed. She said she hit him in the throat and screamed loudly in hopes of getting the attention of someone who was walking nearby.
“It was the first time that Haggis’ behavior had completely changed,” she said. He backed off after realizing that “he was going to be seen doing something so terrible,” she claimed, and seized the moment to get into her apartment without letting Haggis through the door. She said Haggis was standing outside the window looking “visibly confused”.
She experienced “I felt like I was free”. I was afraid that if he got to my apartment, I wouldn’t be able to stop him. The idea of rape came to mind. He was in a world other than anything I could ever comprehend.”
[ad_2]
