-
HOME
-
WHAT IS STANDOur Mission Our Values Our Help Contact
-
WHAT WE FIGHT FORReligious Freedom Religious Literacy Equality & Human Rights Inclusion & Respect Free Speech Responsible Journalism Corporate Accountability
-
RESOURCESExpert Studies Landmark Decisions White Papers FAQs Religious Freedom Resource Center Priest-Penitent Privilege Islamophobia Freedom of Religion & Human Rights Topic Index
-
HATE MONITORBiased Media Propagandists Hatemongers False Experts Hate Monitor Blog
-
NEWSROOMNews Media Watch Videos Blog
-
TAKE ACTIONCombat Hate & Discrimination Champion Freedom of Religion Demand Accountability
Paul Haggis Can’t Hide Behind Leah Remini in Rape Case
New York—Paul Haggis was blasted today with two barrels of bad news. His lawsuit to silence Haleigh Breest, one of his alleged rape victims, was thrown out, while her suit against him stands and will proceed.
In permitting Ms. Breest’s case to go to trial, New York Supreme Court Judge Robert Reed also allowed an amendment to her complaint that detailed sexual assaults committed by Haggis against three other women.
“Ms. Breest was not the first woman Mr. Haggis raped and she was not the last he attacked,” the amended complaint stated. “Since Ms. Breest filed her case, three other women have come forward to denounce Paul Haggis for rape and sexual assault. The experiences of these additional women and Ms. Breest make clear that Paul Haggis is a serial predator who has preyed upon women for many years.”
Due to such serious allegations of criminal activity, Haggis resigned from the board of a charity he founded in 2009 to save it from the disgrace of association with his misconduct.
One of the three as yet unnamed additional sexual assault victims repudiated the Remini/Rinder defense of Haggis and in doing so described Remini as “shameful.”
Interestingly, Haggis’s few defenders are led by the notorious bigot Leah Remini and her TV lapdog, Mike Rinder. Not only did they grant Haggis a forum from which to profane a religion Haggis dabbled in decades earlier, but in January this year they jumped to his defense with a fawning appeal for sympathy.
One of the three as yet unnamed additional sexual assault victims repudiated the Remini/Rinder defense of Haggis and in doing so described Remini as “shameful.”
Not only did Remini and Rinder seek to add insult to the obvious injury these women suffered by defending Haggis, they unsuccessfully tried to deflect attention onto the Scientology religion.
This ploy was dismissed by the same victim, who stated, “I have no connection to Scientology or its practitioners. For those people—including actress Leah Remini—who have stated publicly that all of Haggis’ accusers are part of a Scientology conspiracy, shame on you. Isn’t now the time to be listening to your sisters? Such baseless statements attempt to silence all of us and the entire #MeToo movement.”
And so it is that Remini and Rinder, whose TV claims have repeatedly been exposed as fraudulent, specious and the source of physical and violent abuse against innocent church members, have sunk to new depths—defending an accused rapist.
“Like Paul Haggis, Remini and Rinder seek to profit from the harm they do to people. They have no scruples. They are quite literally why the #MeToo movement came into being,” said Laurie Bartilson a long-term member of STAND.
