NEW YORK (AP) — Jurors obtained their first look Wednesday at a lawsuit that pits Oscar-winning moviemaker Paul Haggis towards a publicist who alleges that he raped her, the most recent in a lineup of #MeToo-era trials involving Hollywood figures this fall.

Opening statements within the civil case towards Haggis started Wednesday in a New York state court docket. The federal court docket subsequent door is housing a trial in a lawsuit accusing Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey of sexual assault. In Los Angeles, former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and “That ’70s Present” actor Danny Masterson are preventing felony rape prices at separate trials down the corridor from one another (Weinstein is already serving a 23-year sentence on a New York conviction). The entire males deny the allegations.

The confluence of trials is a coincidence, nevertheless it makes for one thing of a #MeToo second 5 years after allegations towards Weinstein triggered a dam break of sexual misconduct accusations in Hollywood and past and catalyzed an ongoing motion to demand accountability.

“We’re nonetheless very early on on this time of reckoning,” stated Debra Katz, a Washington-based lawyer who has represented many sexual assault accusers. She isn’t concerned in any of the 4 trials.

Within the case towards Haggis, publicist Haleigh Breest claims that the “Crash” and “Million Greenback Child” screenwriter compelled her to carry out oral intercourse and raped her after she reluctantly agreed to a drink in his condominium after a 2013 film premiere. She had been tasked with greeting him and different movie star company.

Due to Haggis was effectively linked of their business, she was afraid to inform police or her boss what had occurred, however she knowledgeable a number of pals within the subsequent days and months, her lawyer Zoe Salzman stated in her opening assertion.

“He was so tough and aggressive. By no means, ever once more,” Breest texted one buddy the day after the alleged assault, in line with her lawyer. ”And I stored saying no.”

Jurors may also hear from 4 different girls who’ve accused Haggis of sexually assaulting them, or making an attempt to take action, in separate encounters between 1996 and 2015.

“Mr. Haggis used his storytelling abilities and his fame to prey on, to control and to assault weak younger girls within the movie business,” Salzman informed jurors. “He doesn’t cease when girls say no.”

Choose Sabrina Kraus received’t enable any point out, nevertheless, of Haggis’ detention in Italy for about two weeks this summer season as authorities investigated a sexual assault allegation, which he denied.

Haggis’ legal professionals are attributable to give their opening assertion later Wednesday. He has maintained that his encounter with Breest was consensual, and his legal professionals have stated he has by no means raped anybody.

In an uncommon flip, each Haggis’ case and Masterson’s have develop into boards for scrutinizing Scientology, although from totally different views.

Haggis’ attorneys have urged that the church ginned up false accusations to discredit him after he cut up with the church and have become a distinguished detractor. The church denies any involvement, and Breest’s legal professionals have known as the notion a baseless conspiracy idea and a smokescreen meant to obscure Haggis’ conduct.

“Scientology has nothing to do with this case,” Salzman informed jurors.

Haggis says he was Scientologist for 3 many years earlier than leaving the church in 2009. He slammed it as “a cult” in a 2011 New Yorker article that later knowledgeable a e book and an HBO documentary, and he foreshadowed that retribution would come within the type of “a scandal that appears prefer it has nothing to do with the church.”

The church has repeatedly stated that Haggis lied about its practices to seize the highlight for himself and his profession. The church didn’t reply to a request for remark.

Masterson’s lawyer, in the meantime, is asking jurors to ignore the actor’s affiliation with Scientology, although prosecutors say the church discouraged two of his three accusers from going to authorities. All three are former members.

In 1950, science fiction and fantasy writer L. Ron Hubbard wrote “Dianetics: The Trendy Science of Psychological Well being,” which turned a foundational textual content for the Church of Scientology. The faith, which has gained the next of celebrities akin to Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley, is a system of beliefs, teachings and rituals targeted on non secular betterment.

Born and raised in Canada, Haggis obtained his Hollywood begin as as TV author and moved on to films together with “Million Greenback Child” and “Crash,” which received back-to-back Academy Awards for finest image within the mid-2000s. He additionally directed and was a producer of “Crash,” which garnered him and Bobby Moresco the very best authentic screenplay Oscar in 2006.

In a sworn assertion final 12 months, Haggis stated his profession nosedived and his funds cratered after Breest sued him in 2017.

The Related Press doesn’t often title folks alleging sexual assault except they arrive ahead publicly, as Breest has finished. She is searching for unspecified damages.