Leah Remini has filed a lawsuit against the Church of Scientology (Picture: Getty)
Leah Remini has filed a lawsuit against Scientology leader David Miscavige for ‘harassment, surveillance and defamation’.
The actress, 53, was a former Scientologist from the age of nine but left in 2013 and has publicly criticised the secrecy surrounding goings on within the religious faction.
The Kings of Queens actress previously revealed how people ‘run’ away from her at celebrity parties as they aren’t allowed to be associated with defected Scientologists.
She claimed: ‘They literally run away like you’re a pimp or something.’
On Wednesday, Remini revealed on X (formerly known as Twitter) that she filed a lawsuit against the church and its current leaderMiscavige, following ’17 years of harassment, intimidation, surveillance and defamation.’
She wrote: ‘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 (the) thousands of targets of Scientology over the past seven decades.
‘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 2019, the Church of Scientology accusedRemini’s series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath of being a ‘hate machine’
A rep for the Church told TMZ at the time: ‘Leah Remini has blood on her hands.
‘Her show’s lies, distortions and exhortations to hate and bigotry generated assassination threats against the leader of the Scientology religion, physical attacks on Churches, and the murder of a Scientology religious worker whose throat was slashed by a madman egged on by Remini’s horrendous distortions.’
It comes after a member of the Church of Scientology was killed by a 16-year-old boy in Sydney earlier this year, after he had been asked to leave the centre due to a ‘domestic incident’ according to CNN.
The Church blamed Leah’s show for inciting the incident at the time, and her co-host Mike Rinder said in a statement: ‘They basically seek to shift the blame to our show for their abuses.
‘Their statement that this is all caused by A&E and our show because someone apparently looked at a website that mentioned our show — that’s absurd.’
Metro.co.uk has reached out to Leah Remini’s reps for further comment.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE : Lizzo hit with more shock allegations as filmmaker brands her ‘arrogant, self-centred and unkind’
The actress was a former Scientologist from the age of nine.