Church of Scientology Responds to Leah Remini’s Lawsuit Alleging Decades of Defamation, Harassment
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After years of fighting Scientology in the public arena, Leah Remini will take the battle to court with a new lawsuit against the church and its current leader David Miscavige.
In a 60-page lawsuit obtained by Rolling Stone and filed Wednesday in a Los Angeles superior court, Remini accuses Miscavige and the Church of Scientology of years of harassment, defamation, and stalking.
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“After 17 years of harassment, intimidation, surveillance, and defamation, I am filing a lawsuit against Scientology and David Miscavige,” Remini said in a statement on her Substack.
“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 this lawsuit is about what Scientology has done to me, 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.”
In a statement released Thursday, the Church of Scientology replied to Remini’s lawsuit, calling the suit “ludicrous and the allegations pure lunacy.”
“The Church is not intimidated by Remini’s latest act of blatant harassment and attempt to prevent truthful free speech,” the statement continued. “If Remini does not believe in free speech, then she should consider emigrating to Russia.”
The lawsuit alleges that the church’s Office of Special Affairs (OSA) was involved in “monitoring the activities of Scientologists and non-Scientologists and exacting revenge and retribution on anyone who has been declared an enemy of Scientology.”
The lawsuit also details “the myriad of ways” that the church’s leaders and agents allegedly “financed and ordered coordinated campaigns” against Remini dating back to 2006, seven years before the actress departed from Scientology.
“For the past ten years, Ms. Remini has been stalked, surveilled, harassed, threatened, intimidated, and, moreover, 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,” the lawsuit states.
“Scientology has elevated the reach of some of these posts by using its tax-exempt funds to pay social media companies like Twitter to ‘promote’ these posts. By paying to promote these posts and elevate them on Twitter, Defendants demonstrate that these posts are not the work of a rogue Scientologist, but part of a coordinated campaign to follow long held policy and destroy Ms. Remini. Defendants have also incessantly harassed, threatened, intimidated, and embarrassed Ms. Remini’s family members, friends, colleagues, and business associates, causing her to lose personal relationships, business contracts, and other business opportunities.”
The lawsuit details dozens of incidents of alleged harassment against Remini, dating from her 2013 departure from the church up until 2023, when “an unidentified male was recorded on video surveillance arriving at Ms. Remini’s gated community in a vehicle armed with a hammer. This unidentified man drove to Ms. Remini’s residence and smashed her mailbox, which she has to keep locked, to illegally seize Ms. Remini’s personal mail. Police responding to Ms. Remini’s call surmised that he had been sent by Scientology and, upon information and belief, he was sent by Defendants.”
Remini’s lawsuit seeks a trial by jury to determine compensatory and punitive damages for the decade-long campaign against her.
“The press has a right to report about Scientology without facing a sophisticated intelligence operation from Scientology to destroy their personal lives and their careers. Law enforcement authorities have a right to investigate crimes in Scientology without fear that they will lose their jobs,” Remini, who hosted the docuseries Scientology and the Aftermath, added.
“With this lawsuit, I hope to protect the rights afforded to them and me by the Constitution of the United States to speak the truth and report the facts about Scientology without fear of vicious and vindictive retribution, of which most have no way to fight back.”
This story was updated at 6:10 p.m. E.T. to include a statement from the Church of Scientology.
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