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Leah Remini Ditches Scientology, But Doesn’t Regret Her Experience [Video]

By Maat van Uitert
Published on: 05:50 PST, Nov 15, 2015

Leah Remini’s new book, Troublemaker, has put the King Of Queens actress front and center of the Scientology debates. But despite leaving Scientology and revealing juicy details in Troublemaker, Remini says she has no regrets about joining Scientology.

According to E! News,Leah joined Scientology when she was nine, when her mother started dating a member. Having grown up in the church, Remini has an intimate knowledge of its policies and dealings, and revealed everything in Troublemaker. Leah also gives details about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, who Leah was “fighting” with while both women were Scientology disciples.

According to Newsweek, Katie asserted that Leah was a “poor example to others” during Katie’s wedding, and wrote a report to Scientology authorities complaining of Remini’s behavior. Holmes complained to the church that Remini “made the party all about her,” accusing Leah of “disrupting the party” after Remini arrived late.

In Troublemaker, Leah writes that she had to pay the organization $300,000 to make up for her mistake, and it wasn’t the first time Remini handed over big bucks to pay for her naughtiness. According to Newsweek, Remini was asked to pay $40,000 for ordering fast food as a teenager — an act that she admitted years later during an auditing session as an adult.

Remini confessed her crime, and was asked how much she thought she owed. Remini replied “how much was custard and hamburgers for three months during the eighties?” In Troublemaker, Leah says the Scientology auditor told her “[Let’s] just round it up to $40,000.”

After Katie Holmes left Scientology, Leah, who had been forced to pay $300,000 following the wedding disaster, asked for a refund.

In Troublemaker, Leah Remini writes that she queried “as a Scientologist, when I’m reprimanded I’m asked what I’m going to do to make up the damage,” and asked Scientology authorities “what are you going to do to make up the damage?” After a six-year battle, Remini reportedly finally received her money back, after Katie’s wedding was publicly declared a mistake.

Newsweek reports that the story tells a central theme in Troublemaker, which is the Church Of Scientology is getting rich by requiring huge monetary demands from practitioners. According to Leah, most church members, regardless of income, “over a lifetime in the church spend upwards of $500,000 to get to the highest levels.”

Remini writes that it can take over twenty years to get to the highest levels of the organization, and to get there, Leah was required to purchase “roughly 300 books, 3000 lectures, and 100 courses.” In Troublemaker, Leah also outlines a popular way the organization scored even more cash from devotees.

Leah confesses that Scientology leaders help members rack up enormous credit card debt by helping them “call Visa or Amex and they know exactly what to say to get your limit upped.” Leah explains that once members follow the church’s advice to get a “$10,000 or $25,000 credit limit increase,” those same members usually “end up charging that amount to your card as a donation.”

Despite her negative experiences, however, Leah went on The View to explain that she “can’t discredit the things that I learned,” reports E! News. Leah said being a member of Scientology gave her a lot of confidence because she was told “you’re the cause of your life, you are not a child, you’re a spiritual being.”

“It gave me a lot of confidence,” Remini continued, explaining “I can’t take that away.”

When asked if she’s afraid the Church of Scientology will harm her, Leah Remini explained they will come after her, but “the thing is, you can’t be afraid. I’m not afraid.” Knowing the church’s policies, Leah explained they will make “public statements,” but she’s fine with that.

“I’m moving on with my life,” Leah Remini asserts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGgg9hyN2j0

[Photo by Jesse Grant / Getty Images]

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