After Mission Impossible 7 Failure, Tom Cruise faces Another Challenge as Leah Remini Drags Scientology to Court for Psychological Torture
Actress Leah Remini, who joined the Church of Scientology as a youngster in 1979 and left in 2013, has now taken steps to seek justice for the years of persecution she endured from the Church.
Back in 2014, the actress revealed that she left the Church of Scientology because she didn’t want to repeat her mother’s mistakes with her 9-year-old daughter Sofia. Despite receiving censure from the Church for speaking out, she never held back.
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Leah Remini claims the Church of Scientology’s mob-style operations impacted her
Emmy Award-winning producer and actress Leah Remini has decided to file a lawsuit against the Church of Scientology, an L. Ron Hubbard-created organization, and its leader, David Miscavige, on August 2nd, 2023 in California Superior Court and seeks compensatory and punitive damages for the alleged harm the Church has had on her personal and professional life.
According to reports, Remini filed a lawsuit for harassment, defamation, and other unlawful conduct. She said in a press statement,
“For 17 years, Scientology and David Miscavige have subjected me to what I believe to be psychological torture, defamation, surveillance, harassment, and intimidation, significantly impacting my life and career. I believe I am not the first person targeted by Scientology and its operations, but I intend to be the last.”
The actress shared a lengthy statement on her social media and said,
“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.”
She noted in her note that people who share what they’ve experienced in Scientology and those who advocate for them should be free to do so without fearing retaliation from a cult with tax exemption and billions in assets. The actress pointed out that the press has a right to report about Scientology without facing sophisticated intelligence operations from the Church to destroy their personal lives and careers.
Is the Church of Scientology barring Leah Remini from exercising her First Amendment rights?
In the documents obtained, the actress has noted that the Church of Scientology is barring her from exercising her First Amendment right and her moral duty to speak out about their conduct.
However, in her lengthy statement, Remini mentioned that with this lawsuit she hopes to protect the rights afforded to them and her by the Constitution of the United States to speak the truth and report the facts without being fearful of vicious and vindictive retribution, of which most have no way back.
According to journalist Yashar Ali, in her documents, the actress has noted that she has endured harassment, intimidation, surveillance, and defamation since 2006 when Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes got married. It should be noted that Cruise has been a part of the Church of Scientology for a long time.
Remini’s attorneys, Edwards Henderson Lehrman and Motley Rice LLC said, “This lawsuit does not challenge Scientology’s ability to defend itself through legal means.”
Why did Leah Remini leave the Church of Scientology?
According to sources, the actress decided to leave the Church in 2013 as she did not approve of the policies that did not allow the parishioners to question David Miscavige’s management or report abuse endured by the members of the Sea Org religious order. The actress was also motivated to leave after she disagreed with the fact that the followers had to disconnect from family members and if they chose to leave they were dubbed as suppressive persons.
Back in 2013, she said, “I believe that people should be able to question things. I believe that people should value family, and value friendships, and hold those things sacrosanct. For me, that’s what I’m about. It wouldn’t matter what it was, simply because no one is going to tell me how I need to think, no one is going to tell me who I can, and cannot, talk to.”
The actress did not hold herself back from talking about the Church after she left and continued to speak for the ones who left the Church and released her memoir titled, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology, in 2015 and later won an Emmy for her Scientology and the Aftermath series. Remini pointed out in 2018 that the Church was sending her death threats as they intend to destroy their lives.
Source: Variety
