Leah Remini has made it her mission to expose what she sees as the dangers, hypocrisy, absurdity, and cruelty of Scientology since leaving the cult/religion. She has done so through a book, interviews, and a Reddit AMA, among other things. Her Scientology interview will go down in history as one of the most informative sources of information about the secretive Church of Scientology! The actress was a 30-year member of the Church when she left in 2013. In October 2015, she was interviewed by ABC's 20/20 in conjunction with the release of her new memoir, "Troublemaker." In the interview, Remini dropped bomb after bomb about Scientology, dishing on everything from how she was brought into the Church as a child to their relationship with Tom Cruise.
While longtime Scientology watchers will understand what Remini is talking about, those new to the behind-the-scenes drama inherent to the the Church might be shocked. After all, it's not every religion that separates children from parents, charges members hundreds of thousands of dollars to learn basic doctrine, and idolizes celebrities as high priests. But that's exactly what Scientology does - and Remini isn't afraid of the consequences of telling all.
Read on for the most shocking revelations Leah Remini's has made about Scientology.
17 Oh-My-God Leah Remini Revelations About Scientology,
Sexual Abuse Is Handled Internally, by the Church
When asked about sexual abuse in Scientology during her AMA, Remini replied:
I have read stories on the internet. I was told personally by a few people that I personally know that there was sexual abuse. When I was 16 and working for a "senior Scientologist" who was in his late 30's, he had sex with a 16 year old friend of ours. And the "Church" handled it internally. All abuses are dealt within the "Church" as it is an enemy act in the "Church" to prosecute another member. Please do not take my word for it, just google the words "Scientology and sexual abuse."
The Importance of Tom Cruise
Remini revealed what many Scientology critics already believed - that Tom Cruise is a central figure in the religion, revered almost to the point that L. Ron Hubbard is.
“Being critical of Tom Cruise is being critical of Scientology itself," she said."You are a person who is anti the aims and goals of Scientology, you are evil."
Her own opinion of the movie star is clear. "I don’t think he’s becoming of Scientologists," she says. "Jumping on couches and attacking Matt Lauer and attacking Brooke Shields. What the hell is this guy doing? We need to rein this in and he just needs to be an actor. I was immediately dealt with."
Scientologists Believe All Non-Church Media Is False
When asked by Redditor rennob, "How do the powers that be in Scientology keep their followers from reading anti-Scientology news, or your book? Why don't more scientologists leave?" Remini answered:
Because very early on in the brainwashing process, L. Ron Hubbard's "technology" teaches you that outside sources (i.e. The news, the Internet, books, magazines) are ALL LIES and hellbent on destroying something decent like Scientology. The AMA, and APA, and all "governments" do not give scientology its due because they have a vested interest in not healing people and not helping people. And Scientology is in the business of making people better. So Scientologists are taught that their safest bet is to get their info from the only true decent people...and those are Scientologists. And if they look on the internet, if they read time mag, they will be met with punishment at their expense. And, as a Scientologist...you have to confess that you've read outside materials, and that will be met with punishment at your expense.
She Thought It Was Bullsh*t from the Beginning, but Was Trapped by Fear of Losing Her Family
When Remini first received reading material from the Church of Scientology when her family joined, she thought it was a crock of sh*it, but was warned she would lose her family if she left the Church on her own. When asked, "Do you remember what your initial reaction was upon first seeing the course materials for [Operating Thetan Level 3]?" in a Reddit AMA, Remini wrote:
Yes my first reaction was "Are you all f*cking nuts?" and then I looked at my mother and said "What kind if bullsh*t did you get me in?" My only option was to leave, but at the time my family was not ready to go. The "church" told me I didn't need to believe it, just do it. And they always pose this question: "Are you ready to leave everything you've ever known?"
Snitching On Other Scientologists Was Expected
During a salsa lesson at Cruise's house, Remini says she was "written up" for jokingly telling Cruise and Katie Holmes to "get a freakin' room" after watching them make out in front of her.
In fact, such write-ups, called "knowledge reports" in the complex lingo of the church, weren't just common; they were expected. "You can assume, if you say something that is critical to the church, you will be written up," Remini said on 20/20. "Husband and wife, mother, and daughter - it’s what the group does to regulate itself"
She claims she had knowledge reports written about her after the Cruise/Holmes wedding by both Kirstie Alley and Holmes, along with friends of Remini's sister, Nicole, and even her own mother as a child. Remini says she wrote people up as well, including her husband. "I wrote Angelo up all the time!" she exclaimed.
Scientology Sex Ed
Despite being a fairly new religion, Scientology has a distinctly Biblical view of sex before marriage. Hubbard referred to sex as "The Second Dynamic" and developed a complex system of numbers to quantify sexual urges.
Remini was told, in no uncertain terms, not to have sex or any physical contact before marriage. After being caught letting her boyfriend at the time "go like this" over her shirt, she was reprimanded. As part of her teaching, she was instructed to "physically act out the sexual policy" using office supplies. As she tells the story in her book, "I took a paper clip and a chess piece, to stand for the girl and boy, and rubbed them together."
Life in the Sea Org
Remini's mother moved her and her sister to Clearwater, Florida, home of the key Scientology facility known as "Flag Land Base." There, still a child, she joined the Sea Org, Scientology's religious order. She signed the billion year contract, donned a sailor's uniform, and was forced to perform manual labor and menial tasks for Church higher-ups.
Remini pulls no punches describing the living hell she was plunged into: "You live in roach-infested dorms with other children. It could go from working in a laundry room to working with industrial sanders. I had to fight to eat a hamburger." She spent two years working as a virtual slave before her mother moved to Los Angeles.
God Is a Lie, BTW
During her AMA, Remini replied to welsh_dragon_roar's question, "If all Scientology's secrets were revealed tomorrow, which do you think would be most shocking?" with a startling revelation:
"When you reach the top of The Bridge (OTP 8) you will be told that God is lie for LRH, and there are more levels ahead, that will cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars. There is no end to Scientology."
Children Are Like Little Gods in Scientology
Remini was brought into the Church of Scientology at the age of nine when her family joined. The Church sees children as existing on a higher spiritual plane. Children are immediately given a comprehensive education in the doctrine of the church, including everything from rote memorization of L. Ron Hubbard quotes to manual labor.
“Because Scientologists view children as spiritual beings, you’re not treated as a kid,” Remini said on 20/20. “You’re given a lot of responsibility, your ego becomes extremely inflated.” She also explained how children are so indoctrinated that they often stay when parents leave or are expelled, breaking off all contact. "You're learning how to learn Scientology," Remini explains.
Other Scientology defectors have corroborated what Remini said, including Church leader David Miscavige's niece, Jenna Miscavige Hill, who was forced to sign one of the Church's infamous billion-year-contracts at the ripe age of seven years old.
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Meeting Xenu
Unlike almost any other religion, Scientologist are only introduced to the central theology of the path they've chosen after years of study and tens of thousands of dollars in expenses. That central plank, known as OTIII, has popularly become known as the story of Xenu, the intergalactic warlord who kidnapped millions of people, stacked them in volcanoes, and nuked them. Their souls, called "thetans" in Church lingo, latch on to human consciousness and cause all of the psychological trauma humans endure.
Remini summed up the story of Xenu quite simply: "When I read that, I thought it was some crazy s___."