In her documentaries and interviews, Leah Remini often speaks about the bizarre and controversial manner that the Church of Scientology treats its members.
According to recent reports, Brad Pitt might confirm many of the revelations made by Remini.
The famous Hollywood star, who is known for his headline-grabbing relationships with A-listers — Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Aniston, and Gwyneth Paltrow — and epic acting career, has managed to keep some aspects of his life and career private.
This week, it was revealed that Pitt was part of the controversial religion for several years and was “tortured” by those who initiated him into the disturbing rituals, prompting him to leave and never look back.
In the 1990s, while Pitt was dating Juliette Lewis, he followed his then-lady love into the controversial religious movement.
Pitt was asked to take part in something called “twinned” with a 15-year-old girl. The unnamed teenager, who is the daughter of a high-profile member of the church, had to spend over five hours per day with Pitt.
The young girl was asked to sit in a hot sauna with Pitt every day for an entire month for what is known as “purification” rituals.
Pitt was also asked to sit quietly as church superiors hurled stomach-turning insults at him during “bull baiting” sessions.
Former supervisor Michael Mallen spoke to The Sun and revealed the following about working with Pitt: “I was being trained up to be a course supervisor, so I was sent to Celebrity Center Portland for training. While I was there, I met the teenage daughter of the executive director of a Portland-based Scientology company. … One of the things she told me was that Brad Pitt, who was dating Scientologist Juliette Lewis at the time, did the purification rundown at Celebrity Center Portland. He did it there to keep out of the public eye.”
Mallen, who was part of the church for 40 years, left in 2014. The former Scientologist had this to say about the girl chosen to “twin” with Pitt: “She was the daughter of an established Scientologist. … In the Church of Scientology, people are often paired and made responsible for getting each other through courses, so she sat in the sauna with Pitt every day for the month, or so, that it took to get through it. She was definitely in the sauna with him, but there was nothing bad about it.”
Mallen explained that he verbally abused Pitt, who eventually left the heated session: “Brad was doing the therapeutic (training routines). The first TR involves you sitting across from another person with eyes closed for some time. Then you look at another person with eyes open for two hours. … Once you pass that drill, you go into what’s called bullbaiting. The ‘coach’ tries to get the student to react by pushing the student’s ‘buttons.’ That’s what I did with Brad Pitt. I did it mercilessly, insulting the s–t out of him. His then-girlfriend Juliette Lewis was there. He got so pissed off, he walked out of the trailer and just split. Juliette had to rescue him; he just needed to cool off. I guess no one had bullbaited him before. I was going pretty hard on him, but that’s the whole point, to get the person where they’re no longer reacting and can comfortably be there.”
Mallen said he was thankful that Lewis convinced Pitt to come back and added: “No one wants a celebrity to leave. If he hadn’t come back, I’d have been in big trouble.”
Mallen claimed that Pitt got frustrated with the way things were done and stepped away. He concluded: “I heard he did the purification rundown in Portland. Looks like he decided he’d had enough around that time. They tried to get him back, but he never continued with Scientology.”
Pitt said goodbye to the church in 1993.
