The Canadian director and Oscar winner Paul Haggis, 69, has to pay at least 7.5 million dollars (around 7.4 million euros) in damages to a press agent because of the allegation of rape. In a civil trial lasting several weeks that took place in a court in New York, the jury – four men and two women – came to this verdict on Thursday (local time), as reported by US media. The total amount could increase by an additional penalty, the court wanted to discuss this in the coming week.
The 36-year-old filed the lawsuit against the “LA Crash” director in 2017. The plaintiff alleged that Haggis sexually assaulted and raped her at his New York home after a movie party in 2013. Haggis did not deny the encounter in court, but emphasized that all actions were consensual.
Plaintiff attorney Ilann M. Maazel said this was a “great victory” for his client and for the entire MeToo movement. according to a report by People-Magazine With. Haggis’ attorney Priya Chaudhry said she was “disappointed and shocked” by the verdict. The director did not receive a fair trial.
Allegations of abuse also in Italy
During the roughly three-week trial, several other women took the stand and described alleged sexual assaults by Haggis between 1996 and 2015. It was only in the summer that the filmmaker had to deal with allegations of sexual assault in Italy.
Haggis won Oscars for Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture Producer for the episodic drama LA Crash in 2006. He also wrote the screenplays for hit films such as “Million Dollar Baby” and the “James Bond” films “Casino Royale” and “Quantum of Solace”.
Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, 70, and actor Danny Masterson, 46, are currently on trial for sexual assault in two criminal cases, both in Los Angeles. Allegations against Weinstein by dozens of women, in the fall of 2017 by the New York Times and the magazine new Yorker published, were the beginning of the MeToo movement. In 2020, the producer was convicted in New York as a sex offender and now Weinstein faces further charges in California, including rape. He always denied the guilt that sexual acts were consensual.