Nolte: ‘Crash’ Director Paul Haggis Settles 12-Year-Old Rape Case for $2 Million

Two-time Oscar winner Paul Haggis settled a 12-year-old rape case for $2 million, per various reports.

The Crash (2006) co-writer and director stood accused of raping former publicist Haleigh Breest in 2013. She did not go public with her accusation until 2016. She said she was motivated to file charges after Haggis publicly condemned disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein.

No criminal charges were ever filed against Haggis, but in 2022, Breest won a $7.5 million civil suit that climbed by another $1.9 million for her attorney fees.

This was not the only accusation against Haggis. In 2022, he was charged by Italian authorities for sexual violence that resulted in personal injuries. That case was eventually tossed out.

Haggis has claimed for years that both cases have depleted the millions he has made as a top-shelf director and in-demand screenwriter (Million Dollar Baby, Casino Royale). He also claimed the accusations were retribution for leaving the Church of Scientology.

There is no question that the allegations destroyed his career. Although he is likely working on screenplays quietly without credit, he has not had any kind of credit since 2018, and that was for a documentary.

While I’m no fan of Haggis’s work or politics, that’s an awfully long time to blacklist someone without him being found guilty of a criminal charge.

In the small world department, Haggis won a Primetime Emmy for his work on the TV show Thirtysomething — which starred Timothy Busfield, who now stands accused of sexually abusing two children. No matter how that turns out, Busfield is done.

We should all be concerned when people, even if it’s people we don’t like, lose everything like this. Haggis’s accuser did not even come forward for three years. Then she rode the fascist #MeToo wave to millions of dollars. Maybe he did rape her. Only those two know the truth, but since the court of public opinion doesn’t know, how long should he lose the right to practice his craft? He’ll be 73 in March. None of this seems right to me.

As far as Busfield, his harridan of a wife, Melissa Gilbert, was just out screaming her self-righteous virtue at former Fox News host Megyn Kelly about Jeffrey Epstein and child sexual abuse.

I don’t know if Busfield is guilty or not, but either way, it pays to be a little humble about this stuff.

John Nolte’s first and last novel, Borrowed Time, is winning five-star raves from everyday readers. You can read an excerpt here and an in-depth review here. Also available in hardcover and on Kindle and Audiobook.