In November 2022, he was found liable in a civil trial which alleged he raped publicist Haleigh Breest, and was required to pay $10 million in damages.

[4][5] His family had stopped going to Mass after finding their parish priest driving a Cadillac, and he considered himself an atheist by early adulthood.

[7] He started secondary school at Ridley College in St. Catharines, but began getting into bad behavior by skipping his required Royal Canadian Army Cadets drills, breaking into the prefect's office to erase his demerits, and reading the radical magazine Ramparts.

Haggis was taught by a producer of the CBC Radio One news program As It Happens, who allowed him to sit with him as he edited John Dean's testimony to the Watergate hearings for broadcast.

[4] After being inspired by Alfred Hitchcock and Jean-Luc Godard, Haggis proceeded to study art at H. B. Beal Secondary School.

[1] He opened a theater in Toronto to screen films banned by the Ontario Board of Censors such as The Devils and Last Tango in Paris.

Haggis began to work as a writer for television programs, including Dingbat and the Creeps, Richie Rich, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, The Love Boat, One Day at a Time, Diff'rent Strokes, and The Facts of Life.

[6] During the 1980s and 1990s, Haggis wrote for television series including thirtysomething, The Tracey Ullman Show, FM, Due South, L.A. Law, and EZ Streets.

"[23][24][25] Haggis went on to list other grievances against Scientology, including its policy of disconnection, and the smearing of its ex-members through the leaking of their personal details.

[23][24] The Observer comments that: "The decision of [Jason] Beghe and Haggis to quit Scientology appears to have caused the movement its greatest recent PR difficulties, not least because of its dependence on Hollywood figures as both a source of revenue for its most expensive courses and an advertisement for the religion.

"[27] In February 2011, The New Yorker published a 25,000-word story, "The Apostate", by Lawrence Wright, detailing Haggis's allegations about the Church of Scientology.

Haggis denied all allegations and filed a countersuit, claiming Breest intended to bankrupt him by extracting a $9 million settlement.

His lawyer, Seth Zuckerman, wrote in the motion that "the defendant is no longer in a position to finance his defence with this matter lingering in advance of trial.

[35] On November 10, 2022, a New York jury found Haggis liable for the rape of Breest in a civil suit and ordered him to pay her at least $7.5 million.

[37] On March 9, 2023, Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Sabrina Kraus ordered Haggis to pay an additional $2.8 million in attorney fees and costs.

Haggis told the court that the case effectively bankrupted him and claimed he has no ability to pay the verdict or any additional costs and fees.