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Leah Remini has stepped up her years-long battle against the Church of Scientology.
The actress filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in a Los Angeles superior court against the church and its current leader, David Miscavige. Remini made the announcement in a statement on Substack.
“After 17 years of harassment, intimidation, surveillance, and defamation, I am filing a lawsuit against Scientology and David Miscavige,” she wrote.
The point of the lawsuit is to require the church “and any entity it controls and funds, to cease and desist its alleged practice of harassment, defamation an other unlawful conduct against anyone who Scientology has labeled as an ‘enemy.’”
She’s also seeking compensation for what she claims “Scientology has inflicted on her and her career.”
The former “King of Queens” star further explained in her statement that speaking out against the church has impacted her personally and professionally, but she isn’t the only one.
“While advocating for victims of Scientology has significantly impacted my life and career, Scientology’s final objective of silencing me has not been achieved,” she continued. “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.”
The lawsuit points this out by listing alleged actions made by the church’s Office of Special Affairs, formerly known as the Guardians Office.
According to the lawsuit, the office allegedly monitors “the activities of Scientologists and non-Scientologists” and seeks “revenge and retribution on anyone who has been declared an enemy of Scientology.”
The document cites OSA Network Orders, which are claimed to be “a series of directives from Scientology’s founder, the late L. Ron Hubbard.” These were allegedly used against any “individual, organization, business, or government entity that Scientology declares as an enemy.”
Per the lawsuit, any rules from Hubbard “cannot be changed.”
Remini touched on how many have shied away from the topic due to the church’s heavy influence, but she wants that to stop now.
“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 explained. “Children, mothers, fathers, aunts, and uncles have a right to request welfare checks on their family members without fear of an operation activated against them by Scientology for doing so. Those in the entertainment business should have a right to tell jokes and stories without facing an operation from Scientology which uses its resources in Hollywood to destroy their lives and careers.”
Remini has been speaking out against Scientology since leaving the organization in 2013 after being a member for almost 35 years.
She revealed her experiences in her 2015 memoir “Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology.” A year later she co-produced and hosted the A&E documentary “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath,” where she gave other former members to tell their stories.
In July 2020 she started cohosting the podcast “Scientology: Fair Game.”
“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,” she concluded in her statement.
KTLA 5 has reached out to the Church of Scientology for a response to this lawsuit and has not heard back yet.
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