BREAKING: Scientology Leader David Miscavige Dealt Major Blow in Leah Remini Lawsuit

The ruling clears the way for Remini to seek discovery from Miscavige and his close aides, something Scientology attorneys have fought hard to prevent in the past.

A California appeals court has dealt a major blow to Scientology leader David Miscavige in Leah Remini’s lawsuit, clearing the way for Remini to seek discovery from Miscavige and his close aides, including depositions.

For many years, Scientology attorneys have gone to great lengths to avoid having Miscavige personally exposed in litigation, and they have settled claims, such as that of former top official Debbie Cook, to prevent Miscavige from facing such legal vulnerabilities.

Scientology, which had a well-earned reputation for being highly litigious for decades, has not actively sued anyone for defamation or breach of confidentiality in well over a decade in order to protect Miscavige from the possibility of discovery and a deposition.

The court ruled that key portions of Remini’s lawsuit against Scientology — which operates like a borderless totalitarian state — can move forward.

Most significantly, Religious Technology Center (RTC), the organization chaired by David Miscavige that controls all other Scientology organizations, will remain a defendant.

That keeps the organization at the top of Scientology’s hierarchy in the case and opens the door to discovery into Miscavige’s role, RTC’s control over Scientology’s global intelligence agency, the Office of Special Affairs, Scientology’s chain of command, and the roles these organizations played in the campaign against Remini.

Scientology attorneys often seek to protect Miscavige by claiming that RTC has no role in Scientology’s day-to-day operations, but that is false.

Miscavige, through his chairmanship of RTC, has complete control over every Scientology organization and every Scientologist, the same level of control exerted by totalitarian leaders of fascist states.

Remini submitted testimony from former senior Scientology officials Mike Rinder and Claire Headley stating that RTC directed operations used to attack, silence, and intimidate Scientology’s perceived enemies.

The appeals court ruled that their testimony could potentially be used to establish RTC’s knowledge of, intent behind, and responsibility for the campaign against Remini.

(Remini is a close friend of mine. Rinder, who passed away in 2025 after battling cancer, and Headley are also friends.)

In 2023, Remini sued the Church of Scientology International and Religious Technology Center following a years-long campaign of harassment, stalking, defamation, and interference with her business relationships in retaliation for her advocacy on behalf of Scientology victims and survivors, as well as her years-long effort to determine the whereabouts, health, and safety of her friend Shelly Miscavige.

Shelly Miscavige, David Miscavige’s wife, has not been seen publicly in more than 20 years.

The court also ruled that Remini presented enough evidence at this stage that Scientology may have knowingly spread false statements about her or recklessly ignored whether those statements were true.

Among the defamation claims allowed to proceed are Scientology’s statements that Remini:

• Is a liar

• Refused to help pay for her father’s cancer treatment.

(Remini’s late father was abusive and chose to be out of his daughter’s life for many years, but Remini paid for his treatment nonetheless. Scientology knew she did because she was a Scientologist at the time of the treatment and, as is required of all Scientologists whose lives are completely controlled by Scientology, she divulged these details to Scientology officials. Remini’s father and stepmother were also compensated by Scientology to film videos in which they lied about Remini. Scientology officials subsequently published these videos on various social media platforms and websites in order to damage Remini’s reputation.)

• Ransacked her dying grandmother’s apartment.

(Remini did not have access to her grandmother’s apartment)

• Has a “rap sheet” involving attempted bribery, tampering with justice, and conduct ranging from vandalism to murder.

(Scientology’s attorneys argued during the hearing that they were using “rap sheet” colloquially, leading the judges to push back and say that the average person would assume Remini had been charged with and convicted of a crime upon reading that she had a “rap sheet.”)

The court also allowed a claim involving a Scientology graphic that displayed the logos of numerous major companies and suggested that those companies had withdrawn their advertising from Remini’s game show.

Three of the surviving defamation claims had previously been dismissed by the trial judge as having been filed too late: the statements that Remini is a liar, that she refused to help pay for her father’s cancer treatment, and that she ransacked her dying grandmother’s apartment.

The appeals court reinstated those claims after finding that Scientology had republished the statements within the one-year statute of limitations.

Allegations involving the surveillance of Remini and her associates also remain in the case.

The appeals court struck additional allegations, protected parts of Scientology’s public pressure campaign, and upheld the dismissal of one of her broader claims.

The ruling clears the way for discovery to move forward in Remini’s lawsuit once the appellate process is complete and the case returns to the trial court.

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