Leah Remini claims she was subjected to ‘bull-baiting’ and decades of manipulation by Church of Scientology
The King of Queens actor Leah Remini has described being subject to 'bull-baiting' and psychological manipulation by the Church of Scientology in a new court filing against the organization.
Remini, 53, has been outspoken against the Church since she left in 2013, and went on to file a defamation suit against it in August.
The actor initially claimed the Church had 'significantly' impacted her life and career, saying she had for 17 years been subject to 'what [she believes] to be psychological torture, defamation, surveillance, harassment, and intimidation' from both the Church and its leader, David Miscavige.
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The Church described the lawsuit as 'ludicrous' and pushed to have the suit tossed out, but Remini hit back with the new filing.
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She has now described her alleged experience after she joined the Church in 1979, when she was just 13 years old. After joining, Remini claimed she spent more than $5 million for 'thousands' of hours of training.
As part of her training to progress in the organization, Remini claimed she was subject to 'bull-baiting' sessions in which she was verbally abused.
She also accused one man of having 'screamed expletives at me, made sexually suggestive remarks to me, and verbally abused me for hours in an effort to condition me to not react to abuse'.
Through her position as a successful actor, Remini claimed that she was considered a prized representative of the group and helped to attract new recruits.
“I was awarded commendations by David Miscavige, Tom Cruise, and by the very people who later attacked me in Scientology-produced videos,” she claimed.
Moving on to what happened after she left, Remini continued: “Defendants have undertaken a campaign to silence, ruin and destroy my life, career, reputation, and livelihood as laid out by their directives."
The actor also accused the Church of enlisting her own dad, the late George Remini, to try and discredit her in taped interviews after she left and began speaking out.
"[They said I] only wanted my name in the news, that I would not help to pay for his cancer treatments, that I turned my back on my half-sister when she was in the hospital, that I ransacked my dying grandmother’s apartment, and that I have no morals," Remini said in the filing.
Remini has denied all of the accusations made by her father, as well as refuting an allegation from the Church claiming she incited the murder of a Taiwanese member of the group through her documentary series, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.
Following her initial filing in August, the Church described Remini as an 'anti-free speech bigot'.
It claimed she had profited from speaking publicly about the Church, adding in part: "Remini has spun entirely out of control by filing a frivolous lawsuit attempting to stop free speech exposing her false propaganda. Remini's decade of harassment and fabrications are all coming back to haunt her.
"If Remini can no longer get a job, she has nobody to blame but herself. Obviously everybody in Hollywood now knows what we already knew: That Remini is a horrible person and toxic to so many who have the misfortune to come in contact with her...
"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."
UNILAD has contacted the Church of Scientology for comment on Remini's latest allegations.
Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV
Emily Brown