To understand the changes that Leah Remini is proposing to add to her lawsuit against the Church of Scientology, RTC, OSA and its leader, David Miscavige (who runs these organizations and the operations that come from them) it's important to realize that she's fighting against a multi-billion-dollar organization.
She’s fighting to stop the activities that are intended to destroy people’s lives under the practice of Fair Game, operations that Scientology has aimed at its perceived enemies for decades.
These operations are not simply about what Scientology says about someone like Leah Remini, but what it does to her, and people associated with her — people who have never been involved in the organization, or even said anything about it. If they’re close to her, or do business with her, they too receive the same treatment.
These activities are designed to instill fear in those third parties so they will distance themselves from Scientology’s target, leaving people afraid to associate with her or do business with her. Most people are not used to being harassed by an organization calling itself a church. And this is what Scientology intends to do. This is what their policies demand they do.
So Scientology uses hundreds of social media accounts and the members of their front groups to gang-harass, stalk and intimidate their enemies as a standard practice, but it also does this to people and organizations who are merely associated with advocates and whistleblowers of Scientology. Therefore, Scientology uses all its resources against those people as well. leaving people with the feeling that they can’t fight back, and instilling fear in anyone who even thinks about going up against this organization.
A recent example is ClearChannel Outdoor, which caved after Phil Jones and the Aftermath Foundation had put up a billboard near Scientology’s Los Angeles headquarters. Scientology harassed ClearChannel enough that the company felt it was easier to take down the billboard than subject themselves, their employees, and even their families to constant around-the-clock harassment from Scientology.
This is what Scientology does and has done for decades. Most people, lacking experience with Scientology and lacking the courage to stand by what is right will just give in. And in her lawsuit, Leah is alleging that something similar is happening to her. Most entertainment organizations, knowing what they might have to experience if they hire her, will likely look elsewhere to save themselves from the inevitable attacks that would come to their production and even right at their front doors.
The failure to comprehend this has led to some less than stellar news reporting on the lawsuit, and it's also a lesson that Judge Hammock himself should keep an eye on.
We have praised Judge Hammock for the way he's fended off some of Scientology's obfuscating moves, and for applying what he himself calls "common sense" to Scientology's malice and aggression. But he's also characterized this dispute as “a war of words” between two highly visible public figures, as if Leah Remini is on an equal playing field with Miscavige's army of well-paid lawyers, private investigators, and less well paid Sea Org members and civilian Scientologists who volunteer and are ordered to participate in any and all OSA operations to destroy their perceived enemies.
For Judge hammock to state that Leah and Scientology are basically on the same level is like saying stepping into the ring with Mike Tyson is a fair fight. Although Leah is formidable, she is only herself without a war chest of unlimited funds and organization of 20,000 employees at her disposal. It is not in fact, a fair fight and Scientology does not play fair.
Judge Hammock's recent ruling removed numerous defamation allegations by Leah, but left eight of her nine causes of action intact. (The only one he removed, the ninth, was her proposal that Judge Hammock himself enter a declaration censuring Scientology's actions, which would have been unusual for him to do.)
Leah is now proposing to make several additions to her lawsuit in the wake of Hammock's ruling.
First, she's anticipating that Miscavige will sooner or later make a similar objection that was made by the Religious Technology Center (the subsidiary Miscavige is chairman of). RTC had complained that Leah's lawsuit didn't make any specific allegations against it, and Judge Hammock allowed Leah to add declarations by Mike Rinder and Claire Headley to make those specifical allegations, which proved enough to keep RTC in the lawsuit. Now, Leah is saying that she expects Miscavige will make that same objection, and so she is proposing to add allegations about him specifically.
Leah is also proposing to add more allegations of stalking and harassment to the lawsuit, including incidents that happened in 2024, and she also wants to bolster evidence about Scientology making false allegations that she had harmed her own family members, which Judge Hammock has ruled could be actionable.
As for the dismissed ninth cause of action, Leah is proposing replacing it with a tenth: Civil conspiracy against Miscavige and Scientology.
And as to the defamation claims that were dismissed because the STAND League had made their attacks long enough ago that they were time-barred, Leah's team is replacing them with similar smears that another Scientology account, "Vetted Facts," has made recently — in fact, not only attacking Leah since she filed her lawsuit, but even after Scientology filed its motions to strike.
You see, Scientology can't help itself. It has proved time and again that it's a vindictive, retaliatory machine, with hundreds of operatives and social media feeds, private eyes and lawyers, all operating from unlimited budgets, resources and staff all at the ready to receive orders from David Miscavige as to what the OSA operation is, who the target is, and what the steps of the operation are “to destroy utterly.”
This is what Leah is really fighting. She's not fighting because she's been called names. She's fighting because she wants an injunction that will force Scientology to dismantle its smear machine.
This suit has never just been about Leah’s rights but too, the rights of others.
Now, here are the specific additions that Leah is proposing be added to her lawsuit…
Page 8, Line 1: 20a. A document relied on by Scientology, filed in this case on October 26, 2023, shows that a former member of Scientology, Brandon Reisdorf, accused Scientology in 2016 of engaging in “[fair] game dirty tricks” including terrorizing his pet with a “hose pipe.”
Page 8, Line 5: 20b. After the First Amended Complaint was filed, Ms. Remini learned that, on or about April 2023, Scientology tried to make a deal with a public defender to frame Remini for the defendant’s alleged attack involving a Scientology security guard. A Scientology lawyer (Kendrick Moxon, a member who works for OSA) asked the public defender to have her client lie and say that his alleged assault involving a security guard for Scientology was “inflamed” by Remini and her documentary “is responsible for his actions.” The public defender explained to the presiding judge: “If my client were to make these statements on the record, [Moxon] would then ask the D.A.’s office to reduce this to a misdemeanor or even less.”
Page 11, Line 5: 29a. One of the primary roles Mr. Miscavige plays as head of RTC is the planning and supervision of campaigns intended to silence, muzzle, and destroy anyone who violates Scientology’s policies, whether a former member of Scientology or not. Mr. Miscavige does this from his position in RTC by directing OSA to execute campaigns against such people and those who may associate with them or employ them. These campaigns are intended to “destroy utterly” or “silence” by any means necessary—through a persistent drumbeat of social media messages, stalking, and harassment designed to isolate the target, render her unemployable, and to deter others from following suit. Mr. Miscavige issues orders relating to silencing and muzzling high-profile whistleblowers who are attempting to expose criminal activities. This would include Leah Remini.
Page 11, Line 14: 29b. Mr. Miscavige personally devises, supervises, directs, and is involved in these matters because they impact public perception and thus, Scientologists believe, the survival of Scientology. This makes them “Matters of RTC Concern.” RTC’s website, https://www.rtc.org, lists Mr. Miscavige as the Chairman of the Board of RTC, and includes a list of “Matters of RTC Concern.” The first item on the list of RTC “Ethics” Concerns is: “Any suppressive act against Scientology or Scientologists as listed in HCO PLs and HCOBs,” which refers to Hubbard Communication Office Policy Letters and Bulletins. These are Scientology’s policies that direct how to deal with suppressive acts. A suppressive act is any act deemed to violate Scientology’s laws and is punishable by Scientology, for example criticizing a Scientology organization publicly is a suppressive act also known as a “High Crime.” Other Matters of RTC Concern listed on its website include:
—“Any anti-Scientology, anti-Source, anti-org or anti-Church management actions or intentions”
—Any person who is hypercritical of Scientology or the Church
—Publicly departing Scientology
—Public statements against Scientology or Scientologists but not to Committees of Evidence duly convened
—Civil suits brought against a Scientology organization or Scientologist.
Page 24, Line 4: 91a. On March 21, 2023, @VettedFacts tweeted “@leahremini denied her father $1,500 for cancer screening, he later died of cancer” and posts a link to a video of her father at “leahreminithefacts.org” which “tells the story of his daughter reneging on an emergency loan of $1,500 for a biopsy.”
Page 24, Line 8: 91b. On Nov. 10, 2022, @MediaEthicsChk, controlled by Defendants, tweeted “How Leah Remini Denied Her Father $1,500 for a Cancer Biopsy” and posts a link to the video described in paragraph 91a.
Page 24, Line 11: 91c. On August 1, 2023, @VettedFacts posted “When @LeahRemini’s sister, Stephani Remini, was dying of cancer, Remini said: “I’m not paying for it. Get Charity Care.”
Page 24, Line 14: 91d. On March 29, 2023, @standmonitor tweeted, “When @LeahRemini’s half sister was diagnosed with cancer, Remini told her to get charity care” and posts a picture of her father’s third wife with the statement “Leah did not assist.”
Page 24, Line 17: 91e. On August 16, 2023, @standmonitor tweeted, “@LeahRemini’s parents talked about Leah Remini and her sister’s behavior around the time of her grandmother’s death” and “Leah Remini . . . . ‘ransacked her dying grandmother’s apartment.’”
Page 24, Line 21: 91f. On Nov. 10, 2022, @MediaEthicsChk, controlled by Defendants, tweeted “Leah Remini’s father and his wife recall how Leah sent sister Nicole to his dying mother’s apartment, with orders to ‘take everything’—cleaning out all money, jewelry and valuables” and posts a link to the same video described in paragraph 91a.
Page 24, Line 25: 91g. On December 5 and December 19, 2023, @VettedFacts, controlled by Defendants, tweeted “in 2012, @LeahRemini’s father commented on her abusive behavior: ‘The way it is going she won’t have any friends or family … She has been a hardship on all of us.’”
Page 38, Line 15: 129a. Since the First Amended Complaint was filed, Defendants have posted multiple times on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram that Remini filed a “false” or “fraudulent” police report related to Shelly Miscavige. For example, but not limited to:
Page 38, Line 18: 129b. On September 11, 2023, @standmonitor tweeted @LeahRemini filed “false complaints” with the LAPD.
Page 38, Line 20: 129c. On September 17, 2023, @standmonitor tweeted, “Only an obsessed and disturbed person would be so rabid as to file a fraudulent missing persons report purely for harassment and publicity purposes.”
Page 38, Line 23: 129d. On September 18, 2023, @standmonitor tweeted “When @LeahRemini filed a fraudulent report with the police, LAPD had to issue two statements discrediting her claims. And an acquaintance said she told him she knew it was false.”
Page 38, Line 26: 129e. On September 28, 2023, @standmonitor tweeted “Leah Remini filed a fraudulent missing persons report.”
Page 39, Line 1: 129f. On October 1, 2023, @standmonitor tweeted “But the steady rampage of false reports didn’t stop there” about @LeahRemini.
Page 39, Line 3: 129g. On October 2, 2023, @standmonitor tweeted “Leah Remini filed a fraudulent missing persons report.”
Page 39, Line 5: 129h. On October 4, 2023, @standmonitor tweeted “@LeahRemini filed a fraudulent police report.”
Page 39, Line 7: 129i. On October 4, 2023, @standmonitor tweeted, “@LeahRemini filed a fraudulent police report, and has spent a decade harassing law enforcement when they discredited her claims.”
Page 39, Line 10: 129j. On October 4, 2023, @standmonitor tweeted about Remini and included a link to standleague.org/reminiunhinged, a webpage containing a video titled “Leah Remini Unhinged.” The video states that Remini filed a “fraudulent police report” in 2013 and claims “The report was false. There was no missing person. AND LEAH KNEW IT.” The video includes footage of Marty Rathbun, labeled “former confidant of Leah Remini,” allegedly relaying a conversation he had with Remini: “She goes, ‘I know that. I knew she wasn’t missing.’ That was cool with her. In other words, she knew it was a scam from the beginning.” Text in the video then proclaims, “Leah Remini planned her scam for one purpose: TO HARASS.”
Page 39, Line 18: 129k. Defendants have publicly stated that Marty Rathbun is “an unreliable source,” “an admitted liar,” “a self-confessed suborner of perjury and obstructer of justice.” Defendants have also said of Rathbun: “Expelled from the Church 10 years ago, Rathbun is a lunatic with a history of psychological problems, arrests and admitted criminal acts. His madness and reckless disregard for authority and for truth manifested itself when he accused a highly respected state judge in Florida of being on the take and the director of the FBI of being a ‘punk.’” Defendants know their statements are false or are in reckless disregard of whether their statements are false or not.
Page 39, Line 26: 129l. Defendants posted the same video, “Leah Remini Unhinged,” containing the defamatory statements listed above in new tweets via @standmonitor on August 30, September 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, October 1, 2, 4, 12, 5, 7, 12, 13, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, November 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, December 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20, and 21, 2023, as well as January 6, 7, 8, 12, and 14, 2024.
Page 40, Line 4: 129m. Defendants also posted the same video, “Leah Remini Unhinged,” containing the defamatory statements listed above, via standmonitor on Instagram on December 6, 2023.
Page 40, Line 6: 129n. On November 5, 2023, @standmontior tweeted, “When @LeahRemini decided to file a false police report, it was simply a means of harassing an entire religion using law enforcement … the police have twice discredited her fake claims.” (Singer Decl., filed Dec. 1, 2023, Ex. 3 (emphasis in original)).
Page 40, Line 10: 129o. On November 5, 2024, @standmonitor tweeted “When @LeahRemini decided to file a false police report, it was simply a means a harassing an entire religion using law enforcement.”
Page 40, Line 13: 129p. On November 24, 2023, @standmonitor tweeted “Only @LeahRemini would file a fraudulent police report as a means of exercising her bigotry to harass an entire religion—and waste enormous police resources in the process.”
Page 40, Line 16: 129q. On November 28, 2023, @standmonitor tweeted: “What responsible person files a fraudulent missing persons report purely for harassment? No responsible person does, but @LeahRemini did…”
Page 40, Line 19: 129r. On December 1, 2023, standmonitor (created and controlled by Defendants) posted on Instagram: “What responsible person files a fraudulent missing persons report purely for harassment? No responsible person does, but @LeahRemini did…”
Page 40, Line 22: 129s. On November 6 and November 21, 2023, @VettedFacts tweeted “In August of 2013, @LeahRemini filed a fraudulent ‘missing person report’ to harass the Church of Scientology and its leader.”
Page 40, Line 25: 129t. On December 4, 2023, @standmonitor tweeted “A confidant of @LeahRemini confessed that she knew her police report was bogus. ‘I knew she wasn’t missing.’”
Page 40, Line 27: 129u. On December 19, 2023, @standmonitor tweeted “When @LeahRemini made an unfounded police report ‘she knew it was a scam from the beginning,’ according to the confidant.”
Page 41, Line 1: 129v. On December 12, 2023, @standmonitor tweeted “@LeahRemini made a false police report about a so-called missing person.”
Page 41, Line 3: 129w. It is false and defamatory that Remini filed a false police report or a fraudulent police report. It is false and defamatory that Remini “knew” the report was false. It is false and defamatory that Remini “knew” there was no missing person. It is false and defamatory that Remini filed a missing person report “purely for harassment.” While still in Scientology, Ms. Remini internally reported concerns about Shelly Miscavige’s whereabouts. Then in 2013, Remini filed a missing person report related to her long-time friend Shelly Miscavige. Remini had not seen her friend for years, did not know her whereabouts (or whether she was still alive), and was genuinely concerned for her friend’s health, safety, and security.
Page 52, Line 11: 184a. On information and belief, Defendants have made attempts to unlawfully enter her gated community. On August 28, 2023, Ms. Remini opened the gate for a friend who was visiting and arrived by Uber. The gate is clearly marked with No Trespassing signs and instructions that cars should not follow others through the gate. The car behind the friend’s Uber attempted to follow it through the gate before the gate closed completely. The Uber driver noticed this attempt and stopped his car to prevent the unknown driver from entering. The unknown driver, a man not known to Ms. Remini or her friend, then left the vehicle, aggressively confronted the Uber driver and said he was with Amazon and needed entrance through the gate. The man was in an unmarked vehicle and wore no uniform. He verbally accosted the Uber driver and demanded entrance, which was denied, at which point he spent twenty minutes punching numbers into the call box without ever calling any resident of the neighborhood. Failing this attempt, he backed into the driveway of a nearby neighbor. The Uber driver and Ms. Remini’s friend believed he had been in this driveway the whole time waiting to gain entry as they had not seen anyone come up the street behind him. After ten minutes, he sped away. These events were reported to the property manager and the Los Angeles Police Department.
Page 52, Line 26: 184b. Further, on January 16, 2024, Ms. Remini observed a white van stopped in front of the gates to her community. An individual, not in a uniform, was pushing various buttons at the call box that controlled the gate, without success. When he noticed Ms. Remini in a car behind him, he was visibly shocked, got into his van, and began to drive the vehicle in reverse. In turning around, the van hit a wall so forcefully that he broke his back reflectors and, it appeared, the back window to his van. The van remained for some time. Ms. Remini obtained a picture of his license plates but was frightened that he would see her doing so. She reported the incident at the time.
Page 53, Line 6: 184c. In January 2024, Ms. Remini began receiving regular calls and text messages from pornographic sites, which is consistent with Defendants’ Fair Game tactics.
Page 53, Line 8: 184d. Once again, in 2024, there have been thousands of dollars of fraud on Ms. Remini’s credit card.
Page 68, Line 16, ¶ 273: e. The statements that Ms. Remini filed a “false” or “fraudulent” police report, intended that report “purely for harassment,” and “knew” the report was false and that there was no missing person as stated at paragraphs 129a. to 129w. above.
Page 68, Line 19, ¶ 273: f. The statements that Ms. Remini was abusive to her family as stated at paragraphs 91a. to 91g. above.
Page 71, Line 26, ¶ 283: e. The statements that Ms. Remini filed a “false” or “fraudulent” police report, intended that report “purely for harassment,” and “knew” the report was false and that there was no missing person as stated at paragraphs 129a. to 129w. above.
Page 72, Line 1, ¶ 283: f. The statements that Ms. Remini was abusive to her family as stated at paragraphs 91a. to 91g. above.
ADD TO COUNTS:
Page 75, Lines 1-15:
COUNT X: CIVIL CONSPIRACY
311. Plaintiff incorporates and realleges all allegations contained in the foregoing paragraphs as though fully set forth herein.
312. Each Defendant agreed with each other Defendant, and other co-conspirators, to ruin and destroy the life and livelihood of Ms. Remini by subjecting Ms. Remini to a campaign of harassment and intimidation in violation of Plaintiff’s rights as described above, including in Counts One through Eight.
313. In furtherance of that agreement, Defendants, their agents, and their co-conspirators subjected Plaintiff to a campaign of harassment and intimidation as described above.
314. As a result of the campaign of harassment and intimidation, Plaintiff suffered injury to her real and chattel property and to her person, and experienced extreme emotional distress.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff, LEAH REMINI, prays for judgment against Defendants in the form of all general and special damages in a sum to be proven at trial, and exemplary and punitive damages as allowed by law and in a sum to be proven at trial.
ADD TO PRAYER FOR RELIEF: Page 76, Line 6: 6a. All general and special damages in a sum to be proven at trial, and exemplary and punitive damages as allowed by law and in a sum to be proven at trial;
CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s Motion for Leave to Amend and Supplement the First Amended Complaint should be granted.
Chris Shelton is going Straight Up and Vertical
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There is a difference between 'uncivil discourse' and constant harassment. It is the constant harassment that is the basis for Remini's lawsuit. I have postulated that Leah's team has testimony from someone previously inside that clam scam, and I again postulate that again. Shine on you formerly inside the scam person. I can't wait for you and others to publicly tell your stories. Now the Judge needs to up his game and see the entire scam for what it is.
Excellent coverage. Looks very promising for Leah's side.