Scientology tries to undermine Leah Remini’s harassment claim with acquittal strategy – Update

UPDATE, 6:05 p.m.: Scientology claims that the only reason the David Miscavige-led organization ever attacked and defamed Leah Remini is because they attacked her first – and that’s what they want Scientology and its consequences The host’s lawsuit against her was dismissed on behalf of the First Amendment.

“The Church has refused to remain silent in the face of the threats and violence to which Plaintiff has responded and resisted,” Scientology attorneys allege in a lengthy and anticipated post-strike filing filed in Los Angeles Superior Court late last week is. “If we are stripped of the allegations, which are based on unenforceable declarations and protected petitions and fall outside the statute of limitations, we will be left with virtually nothing,” said the strong Remini brief from Winston & Strawn LLP and Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP added.

“The anti-SLAPP law requires an end to this frontal attack on speech and conduct protected by the First Amendment,” read the inflammatory response, a strategy the embattled church has repeatedly used in other legal actions in the past.

As a result of a successful action on October 18 (see below) by defendants Scientology International, Miscavige and Church Corporation, the Religious Technology Center, to jointly respond to Remini’s widely circulated original and now amended complaint, the tone and language of the church’s more recent application changed the same is very similar to what they said about their strategy against it King of queens star earlier this month.

With the separate civil lawsuit against Scientology and current inmate Danny Masterson, who was convicted earlier this year on two counts of molestation, set to begin in September 2025, the church has requested a Nov. 28 DTLA hearing on Remini’s case. and their movement.

EARLIER, OCTOBER. 18:00: Scientology says Leah Remini’s lawsuit against her former church and its leader David Miscavige should be DOA thanks to the First Amendment.

“Defendants have concluded that the vast majority of the allegations contained in the 68-page, 310-paragraph FAC relate to defendants’ constitutionally protected speech or activity,” Scientology attorneys Winston & Strawn LLP and Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP said in a memorandum filed Tuesday. in LA Superior Court. “Each cause of action includes all prior allegations, and each action depends – in whole or in part – on allegations involving protected activity under the anti-SLAPP statute,” they add.

Defendants Scientology International, Miscavige and Church Corporation, the Religious Technology Center, will this morning ask Judge Randolph Hammock for permission to file a joint letter of support for a motion to strike against SLAPP. “Despite the length of the First Amended Complaint and the breadth of the allegations, CSI and RTC do not seek to increase the total number of pages legally allotted to them. “The defendants only want to file a 30-page consolidated brief,” the defendants claim (read Scientology’s memo to the court here ).

In a brief self-presentation dated October 17 Scientology and its consequences Moderator Remini said she thought 30 pages was “excessive” but that she would rely on “the court’s ruling on the appropriate length of a coordinated filing and, if the court grants the defendant’s motion, the plaintiff would ask for permission to submit a coordinated file. .” Submit answer.” a coordinated file. the same number of pages.”

Not far from the Criminal Courthouse where Remini and others watched on Sept. 7 as prominent Scientologist Danny Masterson was sentenced to 30 years in prison on multiple counts of rape, Judge Hammock will hear arguments from both sides later today.

Remini’s August 30 FAC reiterates this King of queens Alum’s previous allegations in the original Aug. 2 complaint about retaliation by the well-known church for her public criticism of its policies and staff. Remini also says that since filing the complaint, she has been a victim of various forms of credit card fraud and has been attacked and ridiculed by online trolls. In response to the lawsuit, Scientology accused Remini of being “a bigot” and of making “threats and actual violence against the church.” Ridiculously, the church also suggested that Remini was “considering emigrating to Russia”.

This week, Scientology stepped up its criticism of Remini in court.

“This case is about a decades-long campaign by the plaintiff against her former church, the Church of Scientology,” they said harshly of the prominent former member. “Over the past decade, she has made a lucrative career inciting hatred and violence against the Church of Scientology, its parishioners and the ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion,” the defendants said.

“She accomplished this through her autobiography, a cable television show, podcasts, and appearances on television and radio,” Scientology added in the Oct. 17 filing. “She used these platforms to label the church as ‘fucking evil’ and its parishioners as ‘sick bastards’, ‘doomed to be body robbers’ and ‘morally exhausted’ and even falsely accuse church leaders.” Leaders of the religion of the unidentified “Crime”. CSI has responded and continues to respond to plaintiff’s defamation in various public forums.”

As outlined in the original nine-claim complaint from early August and the FAC alleging even greater harassment a few weeks later, Remini’s lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. The actress/activist also hopes the court will grant her an order “to end Scientology’s policy against oppressive individuals, so that current and former Scientologists and others who want to expose Scientology’s abuses, including journalists and advocates, can feel free to fast to keep.” Scientology responsible. without fear of being silenced by threats.”

Remini’s case is not the only active intimidation the church faces in court.

On September 26, Judge Upinder Kalra lifted a lengthy stay on a harassment lawsuit filed in 2019 against Masterson and the Church of Scientology against a number of former church members and their families.

The plaintiffs in this case allege harassment and more by Masterson and Scientology after the plaintiffs and their families went to the LAPD with allegations of sexual abuse against Masterson. That 70’s show Actor. All three Jane Does in the civil case in which Scientology tried unsuccessfully to intervene in the Supreme Court last year are former members of the church. They were also involved in the criminal case against the now imprisoned Masterson.

Given the amount of discovery and much more to be worked through, the trial date for this harassment case is tentatively set for September 22, 2025.