Entertainment

Leah Remini's Scientology Battle Rages On

by Kate Ward

Leah Remini might have thrown a punch at Scientology when she filed a police report inquiring into the whereabouts of church leader David Miscavige's missing wife, Shelly, but Scientology is now fighting back.

After news circulated that the former Scientologist had reported Shelly's disappearance to authorities (Miscavige's wife hasn't been seen in public since 2007), the Church of Scientology released the following statement:

The Los Angeles Police Department has already stated that the case is closed and that the report filed by Leah Remini was unfounded.

This ill-advised, ludicrous self-promotion and the media inquiries it generated caused an inexcusable distraction for the LAPD in an era when the time and resources of its officers are stretched thin each day. Creating this unnecessary burden for law enforcement was even more irresponsible given the entire episode was nothing more than a publicity stunt for Ms. Remini, cooked up with unemployed, anti-religious zealots who blog on the fringe of the Internet. Sadly, rather than move on with her life and career, Ms. Remini has aligned herself with a handful of untrustworthy, lunatic tabloid sources who obsessively harass the Church to advance their selfish agendas.

The LAPD agreed with the Church of Scientology's claims, calling Remini's report "unfounded" Friday.

The former King of Queens star quit the church last month after reportedly getting into an argument with the church leader (possibly surrounding Shelly's disappearance). Some reports claim that Shelly was transferred to a secret compound in a base in California, where a group of Scientologists are isolated from the outside world.

Speaking to People two weeks ago, Remini hinted that she would continue to fight the Church. "I believe that people should be able to question things," Remini said. "I believe that people should value family, and value friendships, and hold those things sacrosanct. That for me, that's what I'm about. It wouldn't matter what it was, simply because no one is going to tell me how I need to think, no one is going to tell me who I can, and cannot, talk to."