Leah Remini is attempting to take back her power by filing a lawsuit against the Church of Scientology for allegedly trying to “destroy” her life.
“For the past 10 years, Ms. Remini has been stalked, surveilled, harassed, threatened, intimidated,” Remini alleged in court documents obtained by Us Weekly on Wednesday, August 2. “Moreover, [she] has been the victim of intentional malicious and fraudulent rumors via hundreds of Scientology-controlled and coordinated social media accounts.”
The King of Queens alum, 53, argued in her filing that the heads of Scientology created a “campaign to ruin and destroy [her] life and livelihood” after Remini was “deemed a Suppressive Person” following her 2013 exit from the church.
The choice to leave Scientology — and speak out against the church — led to Remini being “declared Fair Game,” according to the docs. Scientology’s Fair Game directives are allegedly to make sure a Suppressive Person is “silenced by whatever means necessary,” that includes damaging “the person’s professional reputation, [filing] frivolous lawsuits and [orders to] harass and surveil ‘the enemy’.”
Leah Remini’s Battle With Scientology: What She’s Said About the Religion
Remini claimed in her lawsuit that the church also targeted her loved ones. “Defendants have also incessantly harassed, threatened, intimidated, and embarrassed Ms. Remini’s family members, friends, colleagues and business associates,” she alleged, adding that the church’s actions caused Remini to “lose personal relationships” and “business opportunities.”
Remini explained her reason for filing the lawsuit as an attempt to “recover compensatory and punitive damages for the enormous economic and physiological harm” that she claims the church has “inflicted upon her” through an “unlawful campaign of harassment and intimidation.”
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Remini joined the controversial religion when she was just 8 years old after her mother converted. She walked away from Scientology in 2013 and has since slammed the church for its practices and alleged protection of sexual predators.
She has also shined a light on the disappearance of Scientology leader David Miscavige’s wife, Shelly, who has not been seen publicly since 2007. After Remini filed a missing person’s report in 2013, the media relations at the Church of Scientology released to Us, claiming, “The Los Angeles Police Department has already stated that the case is closed and that the report filed by Leah Remini was unfounded.”
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Remini has also released a tell-all book about her time as a Scientologist and spoken out about the organization’s alleged indiscretions on A&E’s Scientology and the Aftermath docuseries.
In her Wednesday court filing, Remini claimed that her vocal statements about the church over the years have made her a target.
Remini alleged in the lawsuit that Scientology’s smear campaign against her has led to “significant and ongoing economic harm.” Remini claimed that she’s spent “nearly 10 years of her life under constant threat and assault by Defendants as a result of her public departure” from the religious group.
Remini explained her lawsuit in more detail via her website on Wednesday, writing, “After 17 years of harassment, intimidation, surveillance, and defamation, I am filing a lawsuit against Scientology and David Miscavige.”
She concluded: “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.”
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Remini argued, “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.”
She concluded: “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.”
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