A woman who has accused filmmaker Paul Haggis of raping her has told a jury that she felt “like a trapped animal” during the 2013 encounter.
Haleigh Breest gave evidence on Thursday in the civil trial in her lawsuit against the Oscar winner.
She said she accepted his offer of a ride home from a film premiere, and then of a drink at his New York apartment, but made clear to him she had no sexual interest.
Mr Haggis maintains the 2013 encounter was consensual, and his lawyer has argued that Ms Breest called it rape because she is out for money.
Ms Breest recounted what she alleged was a terrifying, painful attack that left her shocked and “really struggling to comprehend what had happened”.
“I couldn’t understand how somebody who seemed like a nice guy would do that,” she said.
As she spoke without looking at him, Mr Haggis, 69, watched largely expressionlessly, sometimes rubbing his bearded chin or taking notes.
He may choose to give evidence later in the trial.
Ms Breest, now 36, said she first met Mr Haggis – known for writing Oscar best picture winners Crash, which he also directed, and Million Dollar Baby – in 2012 at a premiere afterparty. She had a side job with an organisation that co-ordinates such events.
Ms Breest and Mr Haggis went on to exchange occasional professional emails and party chit-chat, she said, over the months before their paths crossed again at another premiere party on January 31st, 2013.
After they interacted a bit during the event, a tipsy – but not stumbling drunk – Ms Breest accepted the filmmaker’s offer of a ride, and then his invitation for a drink, she told jurors.
She said she tried to shift the setting to a public place, but he pushed for his apartment in Manhattan’s SoHo neighbourhood, and she did not want to offend one of her employer’s red-carpet guests.
“But just so you know,” she testified that she told him en route, “I’m not sleeping in SoHo tonight.”
Ms Breest said Mr Haggis’s advances began as soon as she put her bags down in his loft’s open kitchen.
“You’ve been flirting with me for months,” he soon said, according to Ms Breest.
“I don’t even know you,” Ms Breest said she replied.
Ms Breest said she was able to dodge and deflect his attempts to kiss her for a bit, and thought she had succeeded in politely defusing the situation when he started a friendly tour of the apartment.
But as they looked at a guest bedroom, Mr Haggis “became aggressive very quickly”, pushed her on to the bed and pulled off her tights and clothes as she tried to keep them on and told him to stop, she alleged.
Then, she alleged, he forced her to perform oral sex and wanted intercourse. She said she asked to take a shower as a subtle way to get out of the room, but he followed her there.
Then, as she left the bathroom to try to get her clothes, she said, he allegedly put his hands on her shoulders from behind, steered her back to the guest bedroom and made a further series of unwanted sexual moves that culminated in rape.
“I was like a trapped animal. There was nothing for me to do,” she said.
Ms Breest said she passed out soon afterwards, awoke alone on the bed the next morning and left without seeing Mr Haggis again.
The Associated Press generally does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Ms Breest has done.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/, or visit Rape Crisis Help.
In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.
