Director Paul Haggis, of the Oscar-winning film Crash (2004), was arrested on Sunday (19/5) in the city of Ostuni, in southern Italy, on charges of sexual assault and aggravated according to various Italian media and a statement of prosecutors in the nearby city of Brindisi.
A young woman identified only as a “foreigner” filed a criminal complaint against Haggis, accusing him of forcing her to have sex for two days in Ostuni, where she meets to conduct a series of masterclasses at Allora Fest, a new film festival scheduled for Tuesday. (21/6).
The woman was found at Papola Casale airport in Brindisi, where she was left on Sunday morning, despite showing “precarious physical and psychological conditions”, according to reports from the Italian police. She was rescued by airport officials and police, she was taken to hospital and later filed a formal complaint.
This is not the first sexual assault charge against Haggis. In 2017, press secretary Haleigh Breest sued the director, claiming he violently raped her in his New York apartment after a 2013 premiere. After the allegation went public, three other women sued the director and scriptwriter for sexual misconduct against Haggis. She denied all allegations.
Scientologist who later turned against the cult, Paul Haggis rose to fame with “Crash” and later wrote screenplays for such blockbuster films as “Million Dollar Baby” (2004), “007 – Casino Royale” (2006) and “007 – Quantum of Solace “(2008).
The allegations reflect an ironic moral lesson for the Hollywood old guard.
“Crash” is considered the weakest Academy Award of this century and would only win because it had conservative backing to prevent the Academy’s favorite “Brokeback Mountain” from being sanctioned. The film that won the Academy Award for Best Director for Ang Lee told a forbidden love story between two men. Representing the opinion of the award’s voters, the late actor Tony Curtis went so far as to declare that he had not seen and had no intention of seeing gay romance in order to vote for the Oscars.
Thus, the film of the man accused of being a rapist ended up winning the Oscar, with the support of the defenders of morals and good manners.
Source: Terra
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
