Actor and Scientology critic Leah Remini claimed the church has stepped up a harassment campaign against her since she filed a lawsuit last month alleging a longtime pattern of threats and stalking.
Attacks by the church and its leader, David Miscavige, “have escalated to a much greater degree than ever before,” Remini said in an amended complaint filed last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Since the civil complaint was filed Aug. 2, Remini said, Scientology has targeted her and her friends with increasingly aggressive tactics.
The amended lawsuit alleges:
- At least three “of my credit cards and two belonging to my assistant who makes purchases for my business have been hacked.” Remini, best known for her work on the CBS sitcom “The King of Queens,” said her accountant “informs me that this level of hacking of one individual is highly unusual.”
- A former Scientologist and friend of Remini’s “had an unauthorized $12,000 debit to her business account.”
- When a friend took an Uber ride to Remini’s home in a gated community on Aug. 28, an unauthorized car tried to sneak in and got wedged into the barrier. That driver spent 20 “minutes punching numbers into the call box without ever calling any residents in the neighborhood” before backing out and speeding away, Remini said.
- Then on Sept. 3, “two white men dressed in black” were caught on security cameras knocking on the door of Remini’s mother at 5 a.m. Remini said she believes the men were Scientology agents “sent to my mother’s house as a threatening message to me.”
“Since the filing of my lawsuit, these attacks have escalated dramatically and have now more than ever focused not only on me, but my family members, my friends and professional colleagues,” Remini alleged in the updated complaint.
“I have publicly asked that Scientology stop its harassment, stalking and other attacks of me and those close to me. To date, my requests have been dismissed as these abuses continue on a daily basis.”
Remini and former Scientology official Mike Rinder were hosts of the long-running, Emmy-winning documentary series “Scientology and the Aftermath.”
A representative for the church called Remini’s allegations “pure lunacy” and “propaganda” Thursday and mocked her career prospects.
In its statement, the church said, “Remini’s obsession with attacking her former religion” has resulted in threats and violence against the church and its members.
It added: “The Church is not intimidated by Remini’s latest act of blatant harassment and attempt to prevent truthful free speech.”