NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!
Academy Award-winning film director Paul Haggis was arrested in Italy on Sunday on charges of sexually assaulting a woman, Italian media quoted local prosecutors as saying.
Haggis, 69, has been in Italy for the Allora Film Festival, which begins Tuesday in Ostuni, a tourist town in Puglia, the region that forms the “heel” of the Italian peninsula.
LaPresse news agency, and several additional Italian media groups, issued a written statement from prosecutors in the city of Brindisi in which they were investigating allegations that a “foreign woman” – that is, non-Italian – was forced to have “non-consensual” sex. two-day relationship with the Canadian screenwriter.
Prosecutors Antonio Negro and Livia Orlando, who are conducting the investigation, said in the statement that the woman was “forced to seek medical attention” after the sexual encounters.
Fox News Digital has contacted Haggis’ legal representatives for comment.
Paul Haggis attends the 19th Monte Carlo De La Comedie Film Festival at the Grimaldi Forum on April 30, 2022 in Monaco, Monaco. (Daniele Venturelli)
After a couple of days “of non-consensual relationships, the woman was accompanied by the man” on Sunday at Brindisi airport and “stayed there in the morning despite (her) precarious physical and psychological condition.”
HILARY SWANK SCORED THIS WRITER PAUL HAGGIS ACCUSED OF 4 WOMEN OF SEXUAL ASSAULT OF “MILLION DOLLAR BABY”
The Brindisi prosecutor’s office was closed on Sunday. Haggis’ attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Prosecutors said airport staff and police noticed her “obvious state of confusion” and, after initial treatment, took her to Brindisi police station, where officers accompanied her to a police station. local hospital to be examined.
Authorities said they were not allowed to provide information about the case, including whether Haggis was detained at the police station or at a hotel or other accommodation after the arrest.
Prosecutors also said the woman “formalized her complaint and cited circumstances that were later examined for confirmation by investigators.”
They did not cite their nationality or age.
Paul Haggis won Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay for “Crash” in 2004, which was inspired by a real-life incident in which he was robbed of a car outside a video store in Los Angeles. Angeles (J. Vespa)
Haggis won an Oscar in 2006 for Best Original Screenplay for “Crash,” which was inspired by a real-life incident in which he was robbed by a car outside a video store in Los Angeles.
The Canadian director, who also wrote “Million Dollar Baby” and “Flags of Our Fathers,” has been charged with rape and sexual misconduct by a total of four women, citing incidents that allegedly occurred between 1996 and 2015.
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE ENTERTAINMENT BULLETIN
Advertiser Haleigh Breest filed a civil lawsuit in December 2017 and claimed that Haggis raped her on January 31, 2013 in a New York City apartment.
Her dress prompted three more women to demonstrate on condition of anonymity, according to AP.
Haggis was a Scientologist for 35 years and left the church in 2009. Shortly after the lawsuits, Leah Remini and her co-chair of Scientology and the Aftermath, Mike Rinder, issued a lengthy statement defending Haggis and claiming that women in question may have suspicious motivations for appearing.
“There are many reasons to be concerned about defending anyone accused of sexual assault in the current climate. But the fear of the consequences of telling the truth has not stopped us in the past and is not about to begin. now, “they wrote. “We have supported victims of sexual abuse who have contacted us and worked with them and law enforcement to ensure that justice is done for both the victims and the accused. avoided media judgment “.
Remini questioned the allegation of Haggis sexual assault accusers with their previous religion. The couple met in 2015 where Remini signed copies of his book, “Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology.” (Debra L Rothenberg)
In their publication, they defended Haggis’ character and suggested that the Church of Scientology is behind the three additional accusers who “suddenly appear from the woodwork.”
“We hope that the next ‘revelations’ about Paul Haggis in this campaign to destroy him are based on information extracted from his Scientology files in the form of more ‘anonymous’ accusers, hidden behind a lawyer who will never have to reveal who pays. your bill “.
Haggis has denied the original rape charge in a counterclaim and said the plaintiff and her lawyer had demanded a $ 9 million payment to avoid legal action, which she described as extortion.
“Paul Haggis deserves, according to his history as a knight and humanitarian, to be tried when all the evidence has been taken under penalty of perjury in court,” Remini and Rinder wrote. “Because the allegations of anonymous prosecutors who have NOT gone to law enforcement are not credible.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Tracy Wright is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital.