Leah Remini has spoken about her experience in the Church of Scientology, including an incident where she claims Tom Cruise “yelled” at her.
Speaking to Louis Theroux on his podcast, Grounded; Remini spoke about how she had grown up as a Scientologist but later left the religion after incidents with other church members.
The famous whistleblower pointed out that Scientology is not a “Hollywood” religion, despite many A-listers subscribing to the organization and raising its profile.
Remini told the story of a time when Tom Cruise allegedly “yelled” at her and two other women — Jenna Elfman and Giovanni Ribisi — for not doing enough to bring other celebrities into the church.
She claimed the actor was angry at them and believed they should be putting in more effort to evangelize among their Hollywood peers.
Another incident is alleged to have occurred at the wedding of Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise, to which Leah Remini was invited.
She brought fellow actor Jennifer Lopez along with her, but the pair were told not to sit next to each other — a move which Remini later came to believe was “punishment.”
She explained: “What I did was I went up to Tom’s assistant – one of the 30 – and I whispered in her ear, ‘Jennifer’s wondering why we’re not sitting together… She’s asking if we can be added to her table, and if not, no problem. We were not moved, so it didn’t ruin anything, but I was severely punished for that.”
Since distancing herself from the Church of Scientology, Remini says others in the religion have made a decision to take a step away from her.
Elisabeth Moss walked out of the room when Remini was awarded an Emmy, while actor Laura Prepon is reported to have “ran away” when she found herself with Remini in a mutual friend’s home.
She confessed: “I’ve been in Chelsea Handler’s home, where Laura Prepon [Orange Is the New Black actress and a Scientologist] was there and saw me and literally ran away from me. This is the kind of thing that goes on.”
The Church of Scientology has responded to Louis Theroux’s podcast, accusing it of being a “fraud” and making claims which it cannot back up.
Louis Theroux has previously had an interest in Scientology, releasing My Scientology Movie in 2015, where he attempted to visit the church’s headquarters.
Remini is continuing her quest to bring the organization down.
