Leah Remini Claims Scientology Is 'Terrorizing' Her and Her Family 12 Years After Exit: 'I'm Hunted'

In an interview with Us Weekly, the actress -- who has continued to speak out against Scientology since her departure in July 2013 -- reflected on her journey in the years after she broke away from the controversial religion, and claimed that the organization is "terrorizing" her and her family, including her 20-year-old daughter Sofia.

"It's difficult to say it's gotten easier when I have a multimillion-dollar organization terrorizing me and my family," The King of Queens alum said.

"I'm hunted. My daughter is followed," added Remini, who shares Sofia with ex-husband Angelo Pagan. "There is constant surveillance."

The Church of Scientology hit back at Remini's claims, with a spokesperson giving a statement to Us Weekly.

"For years Ms. Remini has repeated ad nauseam unsupported and untrue allegations to monetize her hate campaign against the Church of Scientology," the statement began, with Us Weekly noting that it did not pay Remini for her cover story.

"There has never existed a shred of evidence to support, let alone prove, any of her outlandish claims," the statement continued. "Contrary to Ms. Remini’s representations, the Church has never committed or conspired to commit these crimes, and no evidence exists to suggest otherwise. The Church is not 'surveilling' or doing anything to Ms. Remini. On the contrary, she is harassing her former church."

Remini made similar claims in a lawsuit against the Church of Scientology and its leader, David Miscavige, in August 2023. In the filing, Remini accused the organization and Miscavige of "psychological torture, defamation, surveillance, harassment, and intimidation" through "mob-style operations and attacks on her and other alleged victims and survivors of the Church of Scientology."

"With this lawsuit, I hope to protect the rights afforded to them and me by the Constitution of the United States to speak the truth and report the facts about Scientology without fear of vicious and vindictive retribution, of which most have no way to fight back," she said at the time.

Us Weekly reported that a trial is set for October.

While opening up about her alleged experience with Scientology during her many years as a member of the religion -- and in the nearly 12 years since -- Remini told Us Weekly that she wasn't afraid to leave when she first broke away. She said that later changed.

"I wasn't [afraid] because I didn’t realize what this organization is capable of. I'm afraid now. They have over 200 Scientology front groups and social media accounts. The Church tells them, 'Hey, create an X account and attack these people,'" she claimed. "You can leave, you just can’t speak out. You can't exercise your First Amendment right or go on an ex-member’s blog and talk with [others] who experienced abuse in Scientology. You'll get an operation launched by OSA [Office of Special Affairs] to discredit you and destroy your life until you shut up."

When asked if she's still being "threatened" by Scientology, Remini said, "They harass my underage daughter online. They've [used] a Scientology term that means to kill me [and] basically to erase me from the face of the earth. When you talk to a lawyer, they say, 'It's going to cost you more to defend yourself than to pay them off.' And Scientology knows that."

The Kevin Can Wait alum also claimed her daughter, Sofia, is "constantly petrified."

"I have to tell her every day, 'Ma'am, be aware,'" Remini said. "She’s constantly petrified that her phone is being tapped. I had to get her help for that, and she's OK; we got through a rough patch. It takes a toll."

In response to Remini's claims, a rep for Scientology told Us Weekly that "all allegations of harassment, break-ins and other salacious alleged conduct are false."

Since she left the Church of Scientology in 2013, Remini has been very vocal in publicly denouncing Scientology, going so far as to pen a 2015 memoir, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology, and host a series in which she investigated the Church of Scientology across 37 episodes. Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath aired from 2016 to 2019.

While next month will mark 12 years since she parted ways with Scientology, she said she "can't" believe it's been that many years "because I haven’t been able to truly extract myself."

"It hasn’t been as liberating as I'd hoped," she told Us Weekly. "[Still], I don't have a church dictating who I can speak to, including my own family."

Remini said she protects herself by having a "prerequisite" before she communicates with anyone

"You have to violate Scientology’s high crime laws and publicly speak out," she explained. "If you don't, I want nothing to do with you because I don’t believe you left, and I think you’re a plant. I [can’t] let somebody into my life or my daughter’s life who is an informant for Scientology."

Elsewhere in the interview, Remini shared her thoughts on famous and longtime Scientology members, including Tom Cruise and John Travolta.

When asked why she believes the two actors have scaled back on discussing the organization publicly in recent years, she claimed, "Because they’re being exposed for what they truly believe in and realized, 'We better shut up, or we're not going to have careers.' But that doesn't mean that they aren’t in agreement with its policies."

Remini added that she's not sure Cruise or Travolta will ever break away from Scientology.

"I used to hope a lot of these people would, but now I feel like they need Scientology," she said. "I don't know if they'd make it in the real world."

After Scientology shut down the allegations Remini made in her Us Weekly cover story, Remini shared another statement with the outlet, in which she emphasized her claims.

"Scientology insists it does not stalk, harass, and terrorize people. But there are over seven decades of documented cases of retaliation, intimidation [and] surveillance….," she said. "Examples of these operations can easily be found in documentaries like HBO’s Going Clear and the three seasons of my A&E series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.”

"I speak for… individuals who have been stalked, harassed [and] threatened… by Scientology for daring to speak the truth, file police reports, or seek justice," she continued. "Those of us who understand this organization know it is not a [genuine] religion and does not deserve an equal voice."

Remini added, "I am being forced to bring this multi-billion-dollar organization to civil court because the governments that should protect people like me -- those who leave, those who speak out, those who seek justice -- have failed to act. They've been intimidated, misled, or corrupted. But I refuse to be. And I refuse to let this continue in silence."