{"id":124010,"date":"2024-03-16T03:13:43","date_gmt":"2024-03-16T03:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/16\/judge-dismisses-parts-of-leah-reminis-scientology-harassment-lawsuit-national\/"},"modified":"2024-03-16T03:13:43","modified_gmt":"2024-03-16T03:13:43","slug":"judge-dismisses-elements-of-leah-reminis-scientology-harassment-lawsuit-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/16\/judge-dismisses-elements-of-leah-reminis-scientology-harassment-lawsuit-national\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge dismisses elements of Leah Remini\u2019s Scientology harassment lawsuit – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A choose within the\u00a0Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday dismissed parts of Leah Remini<\/a>\u2018s civil defamation and harassment lawsuit in opposition to the Church of Scientology<\/a>, to which the actor previously belonged.<\/p>\n

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In a prolonged, blended ruling, Judge Randolph Hammock struck down important parts of the lawsuit on the grounds of American First Amendment rights.<\/p>\n

In the virtually 40-page ruling<\/a>, which was shared by Deadline, the choose threw out sure defamation claims underneath California\u2019s anti-SLAPP statute, which protects free speech to do with issues of public curiosity.<\/p>\n

Hammock\u2019s ruling, nonetheless, nonetheless allowed for Remini\u2019s allegations of stalking<\/a>, harassment and surveillance by the church to proceed.<\/p>\n

In a press release to Global News, the Church of Scientology known as the choose\u2019s choice to strike sure parts of the lawsuit a \u201cvictory in court against Leah Remini.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is a resounding victory for the Church and free speech \u2014 Remini\u2019s complaint was gutted,\u201d the group wrote.<\/p>\n

The church mentioned it will likely be pursuing lawyer\u2019s charges from Remini, which they’re entitled to use for underneath the anti-SLAPP statute. Remini also can apply for lawyer\u2019s charges, ought to she select to.<\/p>\n

Remini has not commented publicly on the blended ruling.<\/p>\n

Leah Remini\u2019s Scientology lawsuit<\/h2>\n
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Remini filed a lawsuit in opposition to the church and its chief, David Miscavige, <\/a>in August 2023. She accused Scientology of utilizing \u201cmob-style operations<\/a>\u00a0and attacks\u201d to harass her since she defected from the religion in 2013.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit is looking for unspecified damages for the hurt she claims Scientology inflicted on her and her profession.<\/p>\n

When Remini initially filed her lawsuit, the church known as the allegations \u201cpure lunacy<\/a>\u201d and accused Remini of \u201cspreading falsehoods and hate speech.\u201d<\/p>\n

What was faraway from Leah Remini\u2019s lawsuit?<\/h2>\n

Remini\u2019s lawsuit claims she is the sufferer of Scientology\u2019s \u201cFair Game\u201d techniques, which makes her an open goal for harassment, each on-line and in-person.<\/p>\n

In the previous, the church has created a web site <\/a>disparaging Remini in over 10 totally different articles that decision her every little thing from a \u201cbigot\u201d to \u201cracist\u201d and \u201cpro-rape.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The choose known as these situations, in addition to others, \u201cparody,\u201d specifically when Scientology circulated doctored photographs of Remini carrying an \u201cI (heart) rapists\u201d T-shirt after she testified within the 2022 rape trial<\/a> of director Paul Haggis.<\/p>\n

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Hammock mentioned the web posts, \u201cwhile highly offensive and inappropriate, can only be deemed parody.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cNo one viewing those statements could take them literally,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Judge Hammock decided the church\u2019s feedback about Remini are honest underneath free speech legal guidelines as a result of Scientology is \u201ca high-profile entity speaking on a high-profile figure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The choose mentioned each Remini and the church have been \u201cresponsive to, or provoked by,\u201d each other\u2019s verbal assaults.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen viewed in context, the First Amended Complaint plainly demonstrates that the alleged statements Defendants made about Plaintiff online implicate a broader public dispute over Plaintiff\u2019s relationship with Scientology,\u201d the choose wrote in his ruling. \u201cThe online posts are themselves a part of the public\u2019s interest in Plaintiff and Scientology.\u201d<\/p>\n

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What remains to be permitted in Leah Remini\u2019s lawsuit?<\/h2>\n

Some of Remini\u2019s defamation claims nonetheless stand.<\/p>\n

These allegations embody Scientology-made statements that Remini was verbally abusive to her personal daughter, that she \u201cransacked\u201d her grandmother\u2019s house and that Remini refused to pay for her father\u2019s most cancers remedies.<\/p>\n

Remini may nonetheless current to the court docket her claims that she is being stalked by Scientology operatives. These allegations embody studies that an unknown individual drove their automotive into the gates of her neighbourhood neighborhood and smashed her mailbox with a hammer in an try to steal her mail.<\/p>\n

Scientology tried to argue that any surveillance of Remini was accomplished as a sanctioned \u201cpre-litigation\u201d exercise, although the choose didn’t agree.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe court sees no public interest in the surveillance of private citizens \u2014 even celebrities \u2014 under an unsupported suspicion that litigation may occur at some later time,\u201d Hammock wrote.<\/p>\n

Remini\u2019s tortious interference allegations have been additionally permitted.<\/p>\n

The actor alleged members of the church repeatedly harassed a number of colleagues and interfered in her employment contracts. Remini claimed Scientology operatives harassed staff of iHeartMedia and the distribution platform AudioBoom, each of which dealt with her podcast Scientology: Fair Game<\/em>, till the businesses ended her contract.<\/p>\n