Actor Leah Remini sued the Church of Scientology on Wednesday, accusing the group and its chief of defamation and harassment and alleging they focused her and others for talking out in opposition to them.
The “King of Queens” star, who publicly broke ties with the church in 2013 after rising up as a member, says within the lawsuit that Scientology, chief David Miscavige and the establishment’s Spiritual Know-how Heart led a decadelong harassment marketing campaign in opposition to her.
Since Remini’s departure from the Church of Scientology, she has advocated for former members and others who had been allegedly focused after they spoke out in opposition to the church. She outlined her experiences with the church in a 2015 memoir and hosted and govt produced the docuseries “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.”
“For the previous ten years, Ms. Remini has been stalked, surveilled, harassed,
threatened, intimidated, and, furthermore, has been the sufferer of intentional malicious and fraudulent rumors by way of a whole lot of Scientology-controlled and -coordinated social media accounts that exist solely to intimidate and unfold misinformation,” the lawsuit reads.
The Church of Scientology didn’t reply to HuffPost’s request for remark relating to Remini’s allegations.
Based on the lawsuit, the church laid out a “counter assault” known as “Three Channel Dealing with” to go after so-called “suppressive” individuals who spoke out in opposition to its alleged abuse.
The lawsuit alleges that the church paid social media corporations to “promote” misinformation about Remini, amongst different techniques used to harass and defame her. As a non secular establishment, Scientology funds are exempt from taxes, the lawsuit notes.
The actor’s lawsuit states that Scientology enlisted dozens of former and present members to report false statements about Remini and her household, which had been posted publicly online.
Remini additionally accuses the group of harassing, threatening, intimidating and embarrassing her family and friends.
The actor’s mom was a loyal member of the Church of Scientology since Remini was 8 years previous, and infrequently uncared for her and her sister due to it, in line with the lawsuit.
Remini alleges she was compelled to hitch the church and signal a billion-year contract on the age of 13 requiring her to desert her house and depriving her of a standard childhood.
“She was taught as a toddler to imagine that her private sacrifice would
save the planet,” the lawsuit reads. “Years of brainwashing and conditioning put Ms. Remini ready the place Scientology was the one actuality for her.”
The lawsuit states that Remini was compelled to pay hundreds of {dollars} and commit hours of time to Scientology coaching, which allegedly concerned verbal, bodily and sexual abuse.
In an announcement posted on Twitter, Remini stated though the lawsuit is about how she was impacted by the Church of Scientology, her expertise is shared by others who’ve spoken out.
“Individuals who share what they’ve skilled in Scientology, and those that inform their tales and advocate for them, needs to be free to take action with out fearing retaliation from a cult with tax exemption and billions in property,” Remini stated.