Leah Remini has made no secret over the past year that she left the Church of Scientology because she disagreed with their teachings and was beginning to question their motives; now, after a scathing interview with Buzzfeed, Remini has spoken out in detail about why she chose to leave, and the Church of Scientology has responded to her allegations.
The “King of Queens” actress made the decision to leave the church last summer amid rumors that she was asking too many questions, which didn’t sit well with those in charge. Now, however, she says it was simply a matter of realizing she didn’t agree with what she was being taught anymore and the desire to keep her 9-year old daughter out of it.
“In my house, it’s family first — but I was spending most of my time at the church. So I was saying ‘family first,’ but I wasn’t showing that. I didn’t like the message that sent my daughter….In the church, you’re taught that everybody is lost,” Remini said. “They say they’re loving, caring, nonjudgmental people, but secretly, they were judging the world for not believing what they believed. To me, that is not a spiritual person. That’s a judgmental person, and that is the person that I was. I was a hypocrite, and the worst thing you can be in this world is a hypocrite.”
In September of last year, Remini spoke briefly about her decision to her dance partner on “Dancing With The Stars”, Tony Dovolani, saying the church wanted her to fail.
“I was always so scared to be myself,” she said. “You’re used to everything that happens to us is our fault. You’re used to taking a lot of negativity on yourself. The church is looking for me to fail so they can say to their parishioners, ‘See what happens when you leave the church?'”
But the church has a very different story; after the Buzfeed interview was published, they responded to a story in the L.A. Times by saying she would have been kicked out anyway.
“It comes as no surprise that someone as self-absorbed as Leah Remini with an insatiable craving for attention would exploit her former faith as a publicity stunt by rewriting her history with it, including omitting 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 ethical lapses,” the church said in a statement.
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