Paul Haggis opposes motion to keep Scientology out of next month’s trial

[Haggis’s attorneys plan to introduce evidence first seen in Bryan Seymour’s ‘Black Ops’ series]

Last week, we told you that Haleigh Breest, the former publicist who is suing director Paul Haggis for allegedly raping her, filed a motion asking that the court not allow Haggis to bring up Scientology in their trial, which is scheduled to begin in New York on October 11.

Breest and Haggis sued each other in 2017. She claimed that he had raped her in 2013 after they attended a movie premiere together; he sued her on the same day, claiming that her allegations were merely an extortion attempt after a consensual encounter. Haggis’s suit was dismissed and now her lawsuit is about to go trial. But she doesn’t want Haggis or his attorneys to be able to bring in his history as a high-profile Scientology celebrity defector, or his 2011 prediction that Scientology, known for its elaborate retaliation schemes, would find a way to ensnare him in a scandal.

In 2011, Haggis told New Yorker writer Lawrence Wright, “These people have long memories. My bet is that, within two years, you’re going to read something about me in a scandal that looks like it has nothing to do with the church.”

Breest denies that she has anything to do with Scientology, and she says no evidence has emerged tying her to it, so Haggis shouldn’t be able to bring it up at trial.

“Haggis has not produced one shred of evidence to support this bogus story….If introduced at trial, speculation about Scientology would create a cloud over this case, distract the jury, and prejudice Plaintiff. All such speculation — in the form of testimony, documents, or any kind of ‘evidence’ at all — by Haggis, his lawyers, or his witnesses should be precluded,” she asked the court.

We pointed out that in the only interview that Haggis himself has given in regards to her allegations, he did not bring up Scientology, and instead characterized it as a consensual “one-night stand.”

However, Haggis’s attorneys have made it clear in a new opposition they filed to Breest’s motion that they do intend to bring up Haggis’s background as a Scientology defector into the trial, and also to introduce evidence you first saw here at the Underground Bunker and in Australian journalist Bryan Seymour’s spiked 2020 news series, “Scientology Black Ops.”

In July 2020, Leah Remini gave us material that was from an unpublished chapter from her 2015 memoir, ‘Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology.’ In that chapter, Leah spelled out how in 2005, Tommy Davis, who was then an international spokesman for Scientology, showed a woman who worked at the Screen Actors Guild and who had been involved in Scientology that he had a “dirt file” on Tom Cruise’s legendary former publicist, Pat Kingsley.

In Seymour’s “Black Ops” series, he talked to that former Screen Actor’s Guild employee (he called her “Witness X”) who told him that after Haggis’s defection in 2009, Tommy Davis had asked her to break into Haggis’s SAG file to look for incriminating information. She refused. (See a transcript of the episode here.)

Now, in the motion filed by Haggis’s attorneys, they describe the same incident (now referring to “Witness 1”), and suggesting that the former SAG employee has given a deposition and may testify in the trial.

At around the same time as The New Yorker article was published, Tommy Davis, Scientology’s Senior Executive and Spokesperson, called Witness 1, a former member of The Church, looking for “dirt” on Haggis; specifically, Davis asked Witness 1 for anything involving violent behavior towards women. Davis asked Witness 1 to break into Haggis’ files maintained by the Screen Actors Guild in order to try and find this type of information. Witness 1 refused.

Another revelation by Seymour in the “Black Ops” series was his episode about Tristan Silverman, who had once lived as a lodger with Haggis. (See a transcript of the episode here.) In his interview with Silverman, Seymour learned that she had not only been pressured by Scientology to come up with information about Haggis, but was the subject of a bizarre incident on a New York street.

Now, Haggis’s attorneys cite the incident, again suggesting that a deposition has been filed and that Silverman may be called as a witness.

In 2014, another former member of The Church received a call from a senior member of The Church looking for “dirt” on Haggis. The Church specifically asked this former member, who once spent a summer living with the Haggis family, if Haggis did anything inappropriate with women, including her. In fact, The Church even asked this former member to fabricate an allegation against Haggis, but the former member refused. Subsequently, employees of The Church showed up outside this former member’s home in Manhattan, forcibly walked her into a van to kidnap her, and insisted that the former member change her mind and make up a statement about Haggis. The former member escaped from the van when it stopped at a red light, and successfully fled into the New York subway.

The attorneys also indicate that former Scientology spokesman Mike Rinder may be called to testify, and they will also produce a witness who will corroborate Haggis’s claim that after he left Scientology, the church sent members to his home in order to intimidate him.

The jury, they say, needs to have this information in order to judge Breest’s testimony.

Critically and uncoincidentally, once Breest filed her lawsuit, all known and documented efforts by The Church to annihilate Haggis ceased. No more attempted kidnappings, double-agents, or threats by The Church to make anyone “find dirt” on Haggis. The Church, infamous for its relentless and lawless pursuit of its enemies, suddenly stopped its vicious tactics once Breest’s scorched-earth lawsuit started.

As such, this necessary background information must be presented to the jury. The jury is entitled to be informed of any possible motive Plaintiff may have and about The Church’s fatwa against Haggis. Haggis is no ordinary defendant in a civil case. He is the most public enemy of a notorious, nefarious, powerful, and well-funded institution which is known to destroy its detractors. The Church views Haggis as Iran views Salman Rushdie. And, the evidence will show that The Church was, in fact, seeking to embroil Haggis in ruinous, false allegations regarding women prior to Breest’s allegations here. If this information is precluded, the jury will be prevented from knowing necessary background information to evaluate Plaintiff’s claims.

As to Breest’s claim that she has no ties to Scientology, Haggis’s attorneys point out that this is based solely on her own assertion, and “If the jury decides that Breest is credible, then there is no harm in allowing evidence about The Church into this trial.”

Breest has asked the judge to move the start of the trial up to October 3 in order to accommodate an expert she wants to testify in the proceeding. For now, the start is still scheduled for October 11.

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