(CN) — Actress Leah Remini sued the Church of Scientology in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday over what she described as 17 years of a sophisticated attack on her life and livelihood.
Remini, a former Scientologist, claims the defendants, which also include Scientology leader David Miscavige and Religious Technology Center, Inc., undertook a campaign to "ruin and destroy" her after she was deemed a "Suppressive Person" by the church. She publicly departed the church in 2013, after practicing the religion for nearly 40 years.
The two-time Emmy-award winning producer, actress and New York Times best-selling author is known for her role as Carrie Heffernan on the CBS sitcom "The King of Queens" from 1998–2007.
Remini claims that for the last 70 years Scientology has conducted “sophisticated, well-funded and brutal operations” against anyone has been deemed an enemy of the organization.
Los Angeles has the largest concentration of Scientology members and Scientology-related organizations in the world, with a large presence in Hollywood.
While Scientology is officially recognized as a religion in the U.S., some say it's a cult, while others would describe it as a business.
Remini’s lawsuit describes Scientology as a criminal machine that turns on anyone who drops out, investigates or is critical of it.
"Remini’s obsession with attacking her former religion, by spreading falsehoods and hate speech, has generated threats of and actual violence against the church and its members as evidenced by multiple criminal convictions of individuals poisoned by Remini’s propaganda," the Church of Scientology wrote in a statement. "The Church is not intimidated by Remini’s latest act of blatant harassment and attempt to prevent truthful free speech. If Remini does not believe in free speech, then she should consider emigrating to Russia."
L. Ron Hubbard founded Scientology in the 1950s as a religion that offers a “precise path leading to a complete and certain understanding of one’s true spiritual nature and one’s relationship to self, family, groups, mankind, all life forms, the material universe, the spiritual universe and the Supreme Being,” according to the church's website.
“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,” Remini says in the lawsuit.
The suit states that Scientology has utilized its tax-exempt funds to pay social media companies like Twitter to promote the negative posts about her.
Remini says in the suit she has had to deal with “ongoing economic harm” and that the church has constantly used surveillance and “old-school, mob-style tactics, modernized, amplified, and weaponized by Scientology’s far-reaching network, which goes beyond just social media."
Despite being under constant attack after her leaving the organization 10 years ago, Remini “has worked tirelessly to advocate for current Scientologists, former members of Scientology, and non-Scientologists, who have bravely spoken out against Scientology or supported Scientology survivors and whistleblowers,” according to the suit.
"Ms. Remini brings the action to recover compensatory and punitive damages for the enormous economic and psychological harm that defendants have inflicted upon her, to remediate the harm that has been caused, and to punish and deter defendants from continuing their unlawful campaign of harassment and intimidation,” Remini says in the lawsuit.
She is also seeking injunctive relief to end Scientology’s aggressive, abusive tactics against others who have spoken negatively about the religion. She says that journalists and critics of the group should be able to tell their stories about the church without the fear of repercussions.
Remini has long been an outspoken critic of Scientology, writing the best-selling 2015 book “Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology,” a biographical memoir of her experiences with the church, and later producing and hosting a documentary, “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath,” which ran for three seasons from 2017 to 2019 and won an Emmy Award.
The Church of Scientology blasted both projects and established websites attacking the documentary.
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