Paul Haggis allegedly trying to block accusers from providing testimony

Lawyers for Oscar-winning director and accused rapist Paul Haggis are dodging taking depositions from two of his other alleged victims because his camp knows the women’s statements will be damaging, according to new court papers.

The allegation came as the documents revealed that a fifth woman is now accusing Haggis of sex abuse, too.

“Paul Haggis is trying to stop the other women he has sexually assaulted from providing testimony in this case,” wrote Zoe Salzman, the lawyer for plaintiff publicist Haleigh Breest, who filed a lawsuit against the “Crash” director for allegedly raping her in her Mercer Street apartment in 2013.

After Breest filed her 2017 lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court, four additional women — including one new alleged victim just revealed by Salzman in the latest court papers — came forward with their own reputed stories of sexual abuse by the “Million Dollar Baby” screenwriter.

Breest’s lawyers have been trying to schedule two of the women — who will be traveling from Canada — for depositions, but Haggis’ lawyers have rejected all the July dates they put forward. Salzman says it’s because they don’t want the damning testimony to come into the case.

“Haggis’s lawyers have repeatedly told us that they will file a motion for a protective order to stop these depositions,” Salzman wrote in her new motion.

The first three anonymous accusers to come forward following Breest’s suit all claimed to have worked and met Haggis in the entertainment industry, according to court papers.

One of the women says she was raped by Haggis in 1994 in Canada, and the other two women claimed Haggis got sexually aggressive with them before they managed to get away.

No further details were immediately available on the fourth anonymous victim.

“The testimony these witnesses have to offer is very important: they can help establish a pattern of gender motivated violence by Defendant,” reads Salzman’s motion.

“Haggis should not be allowed to stop these depositions,” Salzman said.

But Haggis’ lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, said, “There is merely a scheduling conflict, but once again, Breest’s lawyers are grandstanding in the media.”

“We have never tried to dodge anything. They have known full well that Paul Haggis is not available in July, as he will be abroad raising money for a charity in Haiti,” Chaudhry added.

But Salzman’s court papers say Haggis “has already agreed to join these depositions by video link, rather than in person, so his travel in July is irrelevant.”

Haggis filed a $9 million defamation suit against Breest but decided to let it go after a judge dismissed the case.

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