Leah Remini on Scientology Breakaway: There Were Repercussions

Leah Remini said she faced major repercussions when she left Scientology in 2013 but was ultimately glad she did it because she knew she did not want to raise her daughter in the church.

Remini, who had spoken out numerous times before about her breakaway from the Church of Scientology, made her latest comments in a clip of her TLC reality series "Leah Remini: It's All Relative," which People magazine obtained.

"If you make a stink in the public world, they call you a suppressive person, which means the church has put a stamp on you that says you are bad," the 45-year-old actress says. "They then go to all your family and friends and say you have to disconnect from this suppressive person."



Remini went on to say that if her daughter, who she gave birth to in 2004, had decided to leave, she may have been forced to cut ties with her because of the controlling nature of Scientology leaders.

"I decided I didn't want to raise my daughter in the church because from what I've experience and what I saw, the church becomes your everything," Remini, the former "King of Queens" star, said. "It becomes your mother, your father, your everything. You are dependent on the church."

Remini's charge was echoed in the HBO documentary "Going Clear," in which former church member Spanky Taylor said the church separated her from her daughter and then targeted her for menial labor and poor living conditions after she criticized the institution, according to The Washington Post. Taylor said she eventually had to sneak away from the church with her daughter.

Scientology officials, in a statement to Entertainment Weekly, said that Remini's latest comments were nothing more than a "publicity stunt" for her reality show.

"It comes as no surprise that someone as self-absorbed as Leah Remini with an insatiable craving for attention would exploit her former religion as a publicity stunt in a pathetic attempt to get ratings for her cable show and seem relevant again," the Scientology statement to EW read. "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."

Related Stories:

• Leah Remini and Scientology: Documentary on Church 'Brave'
• Leah Remini's TLC Reality Show to Address Scientology Departure