Leah Remini ugly battle with Church of Scientology explained

Leah Remini has taken the Church of Scientology and its leader David Miscavige to the courtroom for 17 years of alleged “harassment, intimidation, surveillance, and defamation.”

Since leaving the Church in 2013, the 53-year-old has become an outspoken critic of the controversial religion.

Over the years, the Church and The King of Queens alum locked horns in public.

The mother of a Brooklyn native put her faith in the Church when she was an 8-year-old and later became a long-time member of the organization.

However, years later, the actress left the Church in 2013 due to the well-being of her daughter Sofia as she told Buzzfeed in 2014.

Filing Missing person report

Soon after her exit, the sitcom actor hit the Church's head honcho after she filed a missing person's report for his wife, Shelly, who had been out of public sight since 2007.

The Church responded to Us Weekly at the time, "The Los Angeles Police Department has already stated that the case is closed and that the report filed by Leah Remini was unfounded.”

Opening up on Dancing With the Stars

A few months later, the Kevin Can Wait star broke her silence when she joined Dancing With the Stars season 17.

"I'm going through a personal and big change for me and my family," adding, “The Church is looking for me to fail so they can say to their parishioners, you see what happens when you leave the Church? They're waiting for me to fail."

Documentary saga

Remini's strong stance against the secretive religion continued when she released HBO's Going Clear in 2015, where she threw a spotlight on the Church of Scientology's alleged abuses and harassment.

In the same year, a Church's spox told the outlert, “Given Leah Remini’s insatiable desire for attention, it comes as no surprise that for two years she has been incapable of moving on with her life and remains obsessed with shamelessly exploiting her former religion in a pathetic attempt to get publicity."

The following year, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath aired, which told the stories of former Church members and their struggles.

Ended on August 26, 2019; the documentary ran for three seasons and scooped up an Emmy award.

Near the series finale, she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2019.

“We’ve done our job. The public is seeing what a truly evil organization it is,” she said at the time. “It’s not about religious beliefs. They can believe whatever the **** they want. But they can’t just do whatever the **** they want — because that’s what they’ve been doing.”

In 2018, Remini also alleged that she received death threats from the Church of Scientology.