Leah Remini had to go through interrogation after she raised questions about the whereabouts of one of its highest members.
Leah Remini, 50, best known as the female lead on the hit TV series King of Queens was one of the biggest mouthpieces of Scientology for decades before quitting in 2013. Since then, she became the biggest critic of the faith and went on to create the Emmy award-winning A&E documentary series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath in 2016. The show concluded in August 2019, as per USA Today.
Once upon a time, Remini was featured in promotional videos and was at events intended to recruit new followers. She would speak of how Scientology was responsible for the success she had in Hollywood, and that it was the answer for our ailing planet. However, 34 years after she joined the Church of Scientology, she had had enough.
The outspoken critic wrote in detail about the organization in her memoir Troublemaker, but she wanted to do more. So, she started documenting the stories of others who walked away from the religion. In her show, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, she describes Scientology as a "multi-billion dollar church, corporation, empire and cult."
In her show, she talks about how in 2006 while attending fellow Scientologist Tom Cruise's wedding to Katie Holmes, she had asked about Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology’s current leader David Miscavige, as per Rolling Stones. She found it "weird" that Shelly, a high-ranking member of the Church’s spiritual clergy, the Sea Org, wasn't present at "the wedding of the century."
However, her line of questioning was seen as going against the Sea Org members, who were higher up than famous members like her. She then started asking more questions about Shelly, which angered the higher ranking members. They said that Remini committed "Crimes" against Scientology and was interrogated on the e-meter, the organization’s lie detector-esque device. She was also billed for it. Eventually, her faith in the "cult" was shattered but she didn't want to stay quiet having been part of its propaganda once.
She also blames the organization for the deterioration of her relationship with her estranged father, who passed away recently. She said that the last chapter of their relationship was dictated by the organization, who took her dad as a "pawn" against her. She believes that he was manipulated to start a "smear campaign" against her.
"I received a message from my sister Nicole, who had been contacted by a stranger passing on his condolences for the passing of our father, George Anthony Remini. We had no idea that he had died a month ago. We weren’t aware that he had been sick leading up to his death. A funeral came and went and none of us knew anything about it. We were not able to say goodbye," she said in an Instagram post.
She wrote about their difficult relationship in her book and said that she would have forgiven him for "his neglect and abuse." She had "hoped to one day have some closure," she wrote, adding, "I hoped for him to acknowledge who he had been and what he had done to us as his children. That alone would have been healing in its own way."
However, the Church of Scientology responded saying that she blamed everyone else but herself for "destroying her relationships." "It's beyond hypocritical," spokesperson Karin Pouw said in a statement to USA TODAY. "She was estranged from her father … for years and now even exploits his sad passing for tabloid attention. Hate consumes her."
A Church of Scientology website started just to criticize the actress says that she didn't help George get tested for cancer. "The no testing resulted in a year later Leah’s father George discovering he did have cancer, requiring surgery. Leah’s father explains how when he reached out for a little help, Leah dragged her feet and didn’t fulfill a promise to pay $1,500 for a cancer test he desperately needed, an amount he said is 'a pair of shoes for her,'" the website reads.
The church used videos of George and his wife, Dana, to speak ill of the woman who went against their cadre and is continuing to do so. They said that "she has caused hundreds of threats of violence and even a death. She has blood on her hands," reports Daily Mail.
References:
https://www.leahreminiaftermath.com/articles/george-remini-on-his-daughter-leah.html
