Keryn Donnelly
The Church of Scientology has responded to Leah Remini's lawsuit, calling the suit 'ludicrous' and the allegations 'pure lunacy'.
The King of Queens star announced she had filed a lawsuit against the Church and its leader, David Miscavige, after 17 years of alleged 'harassment, intimidation, surveillance, and defamation'.
“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 said in a statement on her Substack.
"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.
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"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.”
In a statement released Thursday, the Church of Scientology replied to Remini’s lawsuit.
"This lawsuit is ludicrous and the allegations pure lunacy," it said.
"Remini spreads hate and falsehoods for a decade and is now offended when people exercise their right to free speech, exposing her for what she is—an anti-free speech bigot.
The church added: “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.”
In 2013, the 53-year-old actor left Scientology after joining the Church at age nine alongside her parents.
Between 2016 and 2019, she hosted a documentary series called Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, in which she highlighted the stories of those who left the Church and how they were allegedly ostracised from their loved ones and harassed by the Church as a result.
In the suit, Remini said the media should be able to report on the Church without 'facing a sophisticated intelligence operation from Scientology to destroy their personal lives and their careers', and law enforcement should be able to investigate it without fearing they will 'lose their jobs'.
"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," she wrote.
She continued: "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."