Leah Remini is on a one-woman crusade to force the Church of Scientology to its knees—and she or he is about to pull Tom Cruise along together with her.
The “King of Queens” star desires to force an actual accounting for the church she fled in 2013, and filed a lawsuit Wednesday which reveals extraordinary allegations of a harassment campaign against her and other “survivors.”
Remini, 53, who named Cruise’s BFF, Scientology leader David Miscavige, as a defendant within the suit, has former church leaders backing her—they usually tell The Post they’re able to tell their truth about its “regime of abuse.”
Remini, who has labeled Hollywood icon Cruise as “essentially second in command” within the church, alleged that she was held at a Scientology facility for 4 months and “psychologically punished” after asking where Miscavige’s wife, Shelly Miscavige, was at Cruise’s 2006 Italian wedding to his ex-wife Katie Holmes.
One highly-placed source told The Post: “I feel that Leah will call Tom to be a witness. She claims that she was abused after his wedding, so why wouldn’t she call him? He’s an element of this.”
The Post has reached out to Cruise for comment.
The church grew out of the writings of British science fiction creator, L. Ron Hubbard, who got here to imagine that human bodies are a brief home for immortal spirits generally known as “thetans.”
Its followers—estimated at 30,000 or more—have given the church a fortune widely estimated to run as much as $3 billion.
But its secrecy and practices including encouraging members to sign billion-year pledges of servitude have long seen it being called a “cult” by critics.
In response to the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court Wednesday, the Church of Scientology “stalked, surveilled, harassed, threatened, intimidated” Remini after she quit the church in 2013.
She accuses it of spreading lies about her on a whole bunch of social media accounts it controls. Relations, friends and colleagues have also allegedly been “incessantly harassed, threatened, intimidated, and embarrassed.”
The hate campaign has cost her work, she claims.
Critics say Scientology has a policy known internally as “Fair Game,” which lets it use scorched earth tactics against its enemies—especially individuals who leave.
Two senior leaders who quit Scientology told The Post that Cruise was a key a part of the church’s leadership.
Claire Headley left the church together with her husband Mark in 2006 and was an authority witness on Scientology for the prosecution within the Danny Masterton rape trial this 12 months.
She told The Post that Cruise’s seniority meant that he would have “personal knowledge” of “abuses” inside Scientology and knowledge of “Fair Game” so it will make sense for Leah to call him as a witness.
“Leah’s absolutely the opposite of Tom Cruise, she’s one in all a sort and she or he’s leading the charge.”
Last summer, when Cruise, 60, who has been a member of the church for the reason that mid-Eighties, was feted for saving Hollywood along with his “Top Gun” sequel, “Top Gun: Maverick,” Headley wrote in a Facebook post: “Glad all you Top Gun fans are having fun with the brand new movie.
“Personally, recent posts about this movie only serve to remind me of Tom Cruise and his crimes against humanity.”
Three years after she and her husband fled the church in 2006, they filed a suit against Scientology, alleging that the organization violated human trafficking laws and folks’s human rights.
She accused the church of forcing her to have two abortions when she was a member.
But their case was dismissed they usually needed to pay the church’s $43,000 legal fees; the church said her case’s claims were meritless.
After leaving the church and suing it, she told The Post she was harassed and targeted by it.
“The church had an image of my son when he was at some point old, alleging he was sickly in order that meant we were jealous of Tom Cruise because the ‘reason’ we were exposing Scientology abuses – probably the most vile b——t.
“They’d special trash collections on us, got our phone records, placed false friends into our lives who rifled through our belongings, gathering intel on us.”
In 2015, Remini published a memoir, “Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology,” and in 2017 won a Television Critics Association award for her series “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.”
Headley said: “She’s an incredible advocate for victims, which is why Scientology is squealing. Any such approach and motion has been needed for many years.
“Leah’s standing up for herself in addition to hitting back on the 1000’s of Scientology policies that for many years were used against me, my family, and lots of, many other people.
“The very fact they use tax-exempt dollars to get away with this in 2023 is totally stunning.”
The Headleys now live with their three sons, aged 17, 15, and 10, in Colorado and run an internet accountancy business, in addition to helping people leave Scientology.
Headley says they’re still targeted by the church, with Scientology-run web sites peddling lies about them —and folks even reaching out to their clients to attack them.
The church released a lengthy statement calling Remini’s lawsuit “ludicrous” and her allegations “lunacy.”
“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 statement added.
.Headley suggested the response showed Scientology is troubled by the case, and said: “What’s probably most shocking, except not shocking to me, is that a billion dollar organization doesn’t also have a name to sign the response, it’s from no one.”
Former Scientologist Amy Scobee, 60, who was answerable for its Celebrity Centre, is ready to offer evidence for Remini.
She became a member of the church when she was 14, and alleges she was sexually abused by her 35-year-old superior.
She told The Post: “Repeatedly I’ve said we should always sue, because Scientology’s criminal harassment and stalking of whistleblowers was so extreme, but I didn’t know if it will ever come to fruition.
“It’s not a bit thing to go up against Scientology within the legal arena; in the event you thought your harassment was bad before, it’s going to get a complete world worse.
“A couple of months ago, I spoke to Leah’s lawyers and spent quite a while telling all of them about my many years of experience at the very best management echelon of Scientology and with David Miscavige.
“If the suit does go to trial, I told them that I’m totally willing to rise up on the stand and testify. I even have a lot evidence and 18 years of experience with their ‘Fair Game’ and attack tactics.”
The church claims Scobee is a liar and says she was dismissed for ethics breaches.
“There could well be a category motion by former Scientologists in light of Remini’s case,” Headley said.”There’s definitely a category there, there’s no shortage of individuals Scientology has lied about and tried to destroy.”
“Plenty have been victims of bullying and evil tactics, so that you never know. My real hesitation in a legal battle with them is knowing how vicious, how litigious they’re, what number of law firms are of their employ. It’s not a simple road.”
Headley said she hoped the suit would make clear the enduring mystery of the disappearance of Shelly Miscavige, the wife of leader David. But she said: “The underside line – greater than where is Shelly, is why are law enforcement and government agencies standing by, how is that this possible in this present day in age?”
Now, former members say, they hope the suit will create the reckoning for Scientology that Remini wants.
“Nothing about this is simple… the church has been getting their way for many years and Leah may be very bravely calling them to task,” said Headley.
