Leah Remini, 43, the former King of Queens star and Dancing With The Stars contestant, has been extremely vocal about her relationship to the Church of Scientology since the announcement that she was leaving the organization in June 2013.
She has been making headlines for leaving the controversial religion after reportedly facing “years of interrogations” and “thought modification”, and for questioning the leader of Scientology, David Miscavige.
What wasn’t revealed, was that she had issues with the Church, and in questioning the leader, David Miscavige, according to several sources close to the actress, she was required to go through extensive “security checks,” which is a practice of intensive personal questioning.
In a recent interview with People she revealed her personal reasons for leaving the church after a more than three decade relationship.
“I wish to share my sincere and heartfelt appreciation for the overwhelming positive response I have received from the media, my colleagues and fans,” Remini, said in a statement.
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She revealed even more information about her near life long experience with the church, as well as her reasons for leaving, in an interview with E News:
“We went from a middle-class lifestyle [in Brooklyn, N.Y.] to living in a roach-infested motel with six other girls off a freeway in Clearwater,” Remini recalled of her family’s transition to the church’s compound in Clearwater, Fla., in 1983. She was just about to turn ten years old.
“We were separated from our mother. We had to sign billion-year contracts we didn’t understand. And we kept saying, ‘Why are you doing this to us? Why are we here?’
And further, she explains about her hardships during her “time” in the organization, “We were working from morning until night with barely any schooling. There was no saying no. There was no being tired. There was no, ‘I’m a little girl who just lost her father and everything I’ve ever known.’ There was only, ‘Get it done.’”
But according to Remini, her biggest reason for leaving the organization, was that she did not want her daughter to repeat the life she experienced.
In a Buzzfeed interview, Remini explained that she decided to leave the church for the well being of her 9-year-old daughter, Sofia.
“She was getting to the age where the acclimation into the church would have to start,” said the actress.
What is most disturbing about this organization is the implications of what an insider said, “stepping away from Scientology will be challenging, but she will fight.”
In what universe is it a fight to walk away from a religious organization? It sounds much more like a cult.
Images via Wikimedia Commons, YouTube