Leah Remini used to be one of those celebrity Scientologists who use their status to promote and defend Scientology as much as they can. Now, the King of Queens actress is one of its fiercest critics, releasing a critical docuseries, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath , that exposes the controversies inside the cult-like religion, including the reason why it needs celebrity members.
Since people are mostly in awe of celebrities, Leah Remini revealed that the controversial church has been using them to build its name. Mike Rinder, former senior executive of the Church of Scientology International (CSI) and the Sea Organization based in the United States, who is now helping the 47-year-old actress expose the controversial church, shared why celebrities are important to Scientology.
“The purpose of recruiting celebrities was to give legitimacy to Scientology and to popularize the subject and hopefully get other people interested because celebrities were interested.”
Ex-Scientologist Karen Schless Pressley recently revealed that she was the Commanding Officer of the Church of Scientology’s Celebrity Centre Network and witnessed how celebrities were recruited to join the organization. She said that they were always hunting for “raw meat” and use celebrity Scientologists to recruit them.
“That is the process of being on the hunt for raw meat: contact, handling, salvage, bring to understanding.”
Celebrity members are expected to be loyal to Scientology, but they are also given other tasks. If fulfilled, they can get a lot of perks from leader David Miscavige himself.
Although there are a couple of Hollywood stars that practice Scientology, Tom Cruise is undoubtedly the most well-known out of the bunch. And because of that, the Mission: Impossible 6 actor has formed a special relationship with the Scientology leader.
Meanwhile, the Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath series was created to give a voice to victims of the Church of Scientology despite public attempts to discredit them. After learning about the docuseries, Scientology quickly challenged the credibility of the actress, Mike Rinder, and their guests on the show.
The controversial church even tried to persuade advertisers of the Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath series to boycott the Emmy-Award-winning show. However, Leah Remini, Mike Rinder, and their guests have repeatedly noted that Scientology is all about intimidation, so this threat didn’t come as a shock to them anymore.
Now in its second season, the Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath series continues to share stories of ex-Scientologists who have been abused by the organization. Just like the first season, multiple ex-members revealed their struggles inside the cult-like religion.
