Karen#1
Well-known member
[Leah Remini and Scientology attorney William Forman]
Yesterday we told you that Scientology had finally launched its attack on Leah Remini’s lawsuit, and has asked the court to strike a large portion of her complaint.
Well, you know, we always like to do service journalism, so instead of describing what parts they want to cut, we thought we’d just show you every single thing Scientology is asking to the court to kill.
Dig in, and tell us which parts you think really scare them the most.
From the factual allegations, and background on Leah’s involvement in Scientology…
70. While Ms. Remini was a Scientologist, giving millions of dollars to Scientology, serving as a public face for Scientology, recruiting people individually to join Scientology, helping to move Scientologists on their bridge, and donating to outside groups at the behest of Scientology, she frequently was held up as an example of a model Scientologist and praised repeatedly for her contributions. She was awarded commendations by David Miscavige, Tom Cruise, and by the very people who later attacked her in Scientology-produced videos, despite repeatedly having been asked to appear in Scientology videos herself. As soon as she left and spoke out against Scientology, she was labeled by the organization she supported financially as an untrustworthy apostate, as has been the case for staff members, Sea Org members and other Scientologists who have left Scientology or who have spoken out, and for non-Scientologists who have made a joke about Scientology, reported crimes against, or advocated for victims of Scientology.
From the allegations about Fair Game harassment…
90. Defendants enlisted dozens of current and former Scientologists to record videotaped messages (in Scientology production studios) to make disparaging and false claims against Ms. Remini—including false and defamatory statements that she was abusive to her mother and daughter, and that she is a racist. These videos continue to be posted at
Leah Remini—Videos and Leah Remini: Videos.
91. To discredit Ms. Remini’s truthful public comments regarding Defendants, Defendants also used and manipulated Ms. Remini’s estranged and now deceased father, George Remini and his third wife, Dana, to make false statements about Ms. Remini, including that she is a liar, that she only wanted her name in the news, that she would not help to pay for his cancer treatments, that she turned her back on her half-sister when she was in the hospital, that she ransacked her dying grandmother’s apartment, and that she has no morals. These false statements were posted to websites created and controlled by Defendants and continue to be promoted or reposted by Scientology…
94. While Ms. Remini was in New York in 2015 to promote her book, she became aware that she was being followed by private investigators hired by Defendants. These private investigators followed Ms. Remini to and from her hotel and to and from all interviews and media appearances. Defendants’ hired surveillance, consistent with Scientology directives, was so intimidating that it made Ms. Remini fear for her physical safety. As a result, Ms. Remini, for the first time in her life despite being a public figure, was forced to hire private bodyguards to ensure her safety during her book tour.
95. In addition to physically following and harassing Ms. Remini during her book tour, Defendants sent disparaging and threatening letters to third parties who were promoting Ms. Remini’s book, including but not limited to ABC News Senior Vice President, Tom Cibrowski and John Bentley. The intent of the letters was to silence Ms. Remini, damage her reputation, and in turn, her ability to earn income from her book…
97. From 2016 through 2019, Ms. Remini created, produced and hosted the award winning A&E documentary series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath (“Aftermath”). This documentary series told the stories of former members who were bankrupt, physically abused, molested, and raped by Scientologists and how the organization covered up those crimes. They told the stories of those whose families have been destroyed by Scientology’s disconnection policies, and of those who suffered retaliation for reporting crimes to non-Scientology authorities. The documentary series won two Emmy awards, a Producers Guild Award, Independent Documentary Award (Truth to Power Award), two Gracie awards (Alliance for Women in Media Foundation), and the Barbara Blaine Trailblazer Award from Child USA, again intensifying Defendants’ efforts to silence and discredit her. Scientologists have also attacked Paul Bucceri, the President & Chairman of A&E Networks Group, by creating websites on him and A&E. Due to this harassment A&E was reluctant to put themselves and their employees, their advertisers at risk out of fear of further retaliation from Scientology and their agents. Contributors appearing on the series were thereafter harassed and stalked by Scientology, including through disparaging websites that were posted almost instantly.
98. Scientology was provided an opportunity to comment in every episode. Yet, Defendants have done everything in their power to sabotage Ms. Remini’s The Aftermath series. Between November 2016 and February 2019, Defendants designed an operation to organize and force practicing Scientologists to write at least 500 letters seeking the cancellation of Ms. Remini’s show. The letters were sent to the network heads at A&E, the CEO of Disney, and innumerable advertisers and sponsors of the series, including Disney, Yahoo, Nissan, Coca-Cola, Nestle, and Expedia, to name just a few.
99. Between April and May 2018, Defendants, through the President’s office of Scientology’s Celebrity Centre in Hollywood, organized a meeting of Scientology celebrities and other Scientologists active in the entertainment industry. In that meeting, attendees were drilled on how to attack Ms. Remini’s credibility, based on lies, using talking points that Scientology wrote. A copy of that document shows that attendees were told to state to others that Ms. Remini’s contributors (survivors and whistleblowers) were criminals. This blanket smear was followed by the false suggestion that the National Enquirer was more credible than Ms. Remini’s documentary series. Additionally, attendees were told to say that Ms. Remini paid survivors and whistleblowers to appear in her documentary series, which is also false.
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All the parts of Leah Remini's lawsuit Scientology wants the court to strike
Yesterday we told you that Scientology had finally launched its attack on Leah Remini’s lawsuit, and has asked the court to strike a large portion of her complaint.
tonyortega.substack.com
