Leah Remini Testifies That “Paul Haggis Is The Victim” In Sexual Assault Civil Trial; Defense Rests
deadline.comLeah Remini testified Monday that Paul Haggis, and not his accuser, is the real victim in his New York sexual assault civil trial.
The former King of Queens star and host of the Emmy-winning documentary series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath – who, like Haggis, is a former member of the Church of Scientology — was the last witness for the Oscar-winning Crash filmmaker, whose lawyers rested their case on the trial’s 14th day. RELATED: Paul Haggis Sexual Assault Civil Trial: Deadline’s Complete Coverage Speaking over a live video link from Beverly Hills, Remini said that as a self-described advocate for survivors of abuse, she believes that rape victims deserve justice and their day in court. “However, in this case I believe it is Paul who is the victim here,” she said, echoing the defense claim that the litigation is Scientology’s revenge for Haggis quitting the church in 2009 and denouncing it in the media.
Haleigh Breest of New York sued Haggis in 2017, alleging that he raped her in his apartment in Manhattan after a movie-screening party where he was a VIP guest and she was working as a publicist.
Haggis testified that the sex was consensual and that Breest never portrayed it to him as anything else until her lawsuit almost five years alter.
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