Leah Remini Sues Scientology, David Miscavige

Leah Remini Sues Scientology, David Miscavige,Leah Remini alleges in the lawsuit that the Church of Scientology has harassed, intimidated, and surveilled her for years.

Leah Remini Sues Scientology, David Miscavige

Leah Remini has filed a lawsuit against the Church of Scientology and its leader, David Miscavige, alleging she’s been the victim of harassment, intimidation, surveillance and defamation for nearly two decades. The King of Queens actor, who left the church in 2013 after being a member since childhood, filed her lawsuit Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, seeking compensatory and punitive damages for the economic and psychological harm she says Scientology inflicted upon her.

In the lawsuit, obtained by Deadline, Remini claims she has been the victim of “intentional malicious and fraudulent rumors via hundreds of Scientology-controlled and -coordinated social media accounts that exist solely to intimidate and spread misinformation.” For 17 years, the church and Miscavige have subjected her to “what I believe to be psychological torture, defamation, surveillance, harassment, and intimidation, significantly impacting my life and career,” Remini added in a statement Wednesday. The Church of Scientology has yet to respond to Remini’s legal filing.

Remini has been outspoken in her criticism of Scientology, starring in the Emmy Award-winning anti-Scientology documentary series, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, from 2016 to 2019. In 2015, she published the best-selling book Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology, which Remini claims in the lawsuit forced her to hire bodyguards for the first time in her life, as she learned private investigators allegedly working for the church were following her during her book promotion.

In 2018, Remini also alleges the church held a meeting with celebrity Scientologists about “how to attack Ms. Remini’s credibility, based on lies, using talking points that Scientology wrote.” The actress also accused the church of enlisting a man with a “violent criminal record” and “history of mental illness” to stalk and surveil her at her Los Angeles home, which the lawsuit claimed resulted in him being arrested twice, once for ramming his vehicle into the security gates of her community and a second time for falsely claiming Remini was holding hostages at her home.

Remini said in her statement Wednesday that while she doesn’t believe she’s Scientology’s first victim, she does “intend to be the last.” She continued, “While advocating for victims of Scientology has significantly impacted my life and career, Scientology’s final objective of silencing me has not been achieved.” While the lawsuit is focused on Remini’s own experiences, she added, “I am one of thousands of targets of Scientology over the past seven decades. People who share what they’ve experienced in Scientology, and those who tell their stories and advocate for them, should be free to do so without fearing retaliation from a cult with tax exemption and billions in assets.”

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