Leah Remini’s been bravely speaking out about the Church of Scientology since she broke away from the organization three and a half years ago.
And after the success of her best-selling book titled Troublemaker, Leah Remini takes to the small screen next week with her new docu-series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.
During an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Wednesday the 46-year-old star explained why it’s so important for her to fight against the Church.
‘We’re doing an eight-part series. A&E is very brave to do it. And the people who are speaking are very brave to do it because there are repercussions to speaking out,’ she said.
Leah’s new series takes a look into allegations of abuse, lies and sexual misconduct with interviews from former Church members.
‘Then I was watching high executives, former executives of the Church leaving and speaking out about abuses and things that they’ve experienced while working for the Church, and I saw how the church reacted,
‘I felt I had a responsibility to say, “I’m not going to allow you to bully these people who were very brave to come out and tell their stories.”‘ the King of Queens star said.
‘And that’s from executives. But there are just average parishioners like me who leave and speak out about what they’ve experienced. They lose their family. The Church goes after their family to shun their family, oftentimes. I’m very lucky that that didn’t happen to me. My family chose me.’
The actress claimed she has been followed since speaking out about the Church.
She said: ‘But again, my story pales in comparison to what happened to other people, how people are bullied into silence. We don’t have $3 billion to protect ourselves, right? So, what I have is I’m an actress, and I’m able to speak, and I’m able to give a voice to people who might not have an Ellen to go on,’
‘For that, I feel lucky and I feel blessed. That’s kind of what my path is right now.’ she added.
When Ellen suggested the reason celebrities are scared to leave the Church is that they’re worried the organization has dirt on them, Leah added that the other factor that keeps people there is simply believing in it.
‘The Church does have all your secrets from when you were a child, but that isn’t the reason why people don’t leave the Church,’ Leah explained.
‘People don’t leave the Church because they actually believe what they’re doing is good. It’s very hard for me to attack something that I believed in, and I believed in it wholeheartedly my whole life. It’s a difficult position to be in.
‘They believe that they have the answers to life to help mankind. So, they choose often the Church, believing they’re saving their family anyway. I’m not going to sit back and just go on with my life and let the Church—who has $3 billion—bully people, bully victims.’
Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath airs November 29 on A&E 10pm ET.
