14 DAY TRIAL // Leah Remini was one of the celebrity Scientologists to have actually been brought up in the cult instead of joining it when she was already an adult. So, when she defected in 2013 and started to publicly discuss the reasons for her decision, which were far from favorable to Scientology, the Church fought back.
That war of words is still ongoing, and neither party is willing to back down. Leah has a new reality show, Leah Remini: It’s All Relative, which will also tackle the issue of her and her family’s exit from Scientology, as a new trailer for it reveals.
The Church isn’t happy with what she’s got to say on the topic.
There are “repercussions” to leaving Scientology with a fuss
A short while ago, HBO aired the documentary “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief,” detailing the kind of abuse current and former members of the cult are subjected to on a daily basis. If you’re a current member that does something to offend higher-ups, you can be sent to a work camp or to “the hole,” which is basically a code-name for the place where unspeakable acts of torture take place.
Once you defect, if you do so publicly and dare to speak against the Church, you are declared a Suppressive Person (SP, for short) and you can expect a lifetime of harassment, defamation campaigns and being cut out of the lives of your family and friends still remaining with the Church.
That’s not an exaggeration, Leah says in this new video, which you can find embedded below. Sitting at a table with former Scientologists, she tells the camera of learning on her own the kind of “repercussions” that come with defecting from the cult by making a fuss.
If you leave quietly and you’re really lucky, you might actually be allowed to stay in touch with your friends and family inside, she adds.
This was not the kind of future she wanted for her daughter Sofia, Leah adds. So once her eyes were open and she understood what she was dealing with, she talked to her family and they decided to leave together, as a unit.
Church of Scientology fights back
Leah Remini is obviously a liar and an attention-hunger has-been, the Church of Scientology says of the latest allegations, in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
Because she has no other possibility of getting into the spotlight again, she’s lying her face off and staging this “publicity stunt in a pathetic attempt to get ratings for her cable show,” the statement says.
She is self-absorbed and shameless, and should not be trusted. “She is rewriting history and omits that she was participating in a program to remain a Scientologist by her own choice, as she was on the verge of being expelled for her and her husband’s ethical lapses,” the statement continues.
As it happens, it is a well-documented fact that Scientology tries to denigrate any and all members who dare to say one negative thing about the Church once they leave.