"We lost friends who can no longer talk to us who are still in the organization," Remini said on Monday's show, confirming that people who are still members of the church are not allowed to talk to people who've left the organization and vice versa.
"But we have other friends, who are not in the church, who have stood by us and that's all we can ask for," Remini added. DeGeneres pointed out that she's still Remini's friend and that she supports her.
After the two tried on some unusual, "as-seen-on-TV" gadgets that Remini brought, DeGeneres joked, "I'm thinking you got kicked out of Scientology. I don't think you left."
When asked why she left, Remini's answer was similar to but less revealing than explanations she's given in the past, saying, "My mother got involved when we were very young, so it's all we really knew. But over time, my eyes got opened and I could just no longer be affiliated with the organization, and my family felt the same, so we left."
Remini also talked about the painful process of preparing for her upcoming stint onDancing With the Stars, which she said she began a week prior to taping the interview.
She says she's hurting "everywhere," including "places I didn't know could hurt." "It's so much harder than I thought, and most people do say that, but it's true."
She's also concerned that she's already broken partner Tony Dovolani's wrist, because she's hanging onto him for dear life, she said.
PROFITING ON PERSONALITY: THE SALES PITCH OF SCIENTOLOGY
By UNION STAFF
There are many things that have been said about the Church of Scientology. The average person most likely has some inkling that it’s this cultish organization headed by a crazed Tom Cruise who jumps from couch to couch scamming innocent people out of their money. And some people attribute their knowledge to that one South Park episode. Of course, when things get filtered through the media, there are bound to be things that are blown out of proportion. At the end of the day, Scientology is somewhat of a religion, and considering this, we thought that maybe we should hear what Scientology is straight from the mouths of its believers, rather than from a Wikipedia article. Is there sincerity in their quest to attract new Scientologists, or is it all a big scam?
—
We’re afraid of what we don’t know, and the perceived mysteriousness of the organization made us unsure of what we were going to encounter. Were we going to be strapped to chairs and forced to watch propaganda films against our wills? Would men in cloaks whisper verses from L. Ron Hubbard’s biography into our ears as we frantically looked for an exit? As it turns out, the Scientology center was not a dark cave lit with candles and filled with rat bones. It was clean, presentable, and managed by attractive employees in crisp uniforms. If you weren’t suspecting it, you would never catch the hint of subtle crazy in the well-produced videos and the enthusiasm of the staff.
—
Our unease was mostly fueled by our decision to call in ahead of time and explain that we’re from a campus newspaper that was hoping to get an interview with someone on staff. They refused, but encouraged us to come anyway. Once we arrived we felt watched, slowly noticing all the cameras and nervously trying to deflect the main receptionist’s inquiries about our association with a school newspaper. Maybe it was pure paranoia, but when they took a picture of us while we were viewing one of the videos on a showcase, it got to our heads. We noticed that they left us to ourselves, as another family was given a full tour and the full attention of the employees. Maybe they knew not to waste their time on a group of young adults who were probably less likely to be converted to Scientology than the Pope himself.
—
Even now we’re unsure what we were trying to gain out of our experience. For the most part, it was fueled by sheer curiosity. In an attempt to find a bunch of lunatics wearing foil hats, we just found a bunch of people who sincerely believed what they preached. Granted, there are large parts of Scientology that we don’t agree with, but the same goes for other religions and belief systems that we don’t align ourselves with. Some of us left the center laughing, some left it with indifference and some left feeling pretty weirded out. As we were leaving, we noticed a man who had come into the center completely at his wit’s end. He was an alcoholic, felt alone, and needed help. If the purpose of religion is to help others in their time of need, then who’s to say that believing in Scientology is any crazier than any other religion?
Atmosphere (by Adolpho Madera)
The entire atmosphere of the Scientology information center reeked of crass commercialism and televangelism. The building, ornate and almost futuristic on the outside was more like a Barnes and Noble on the inside. The most prominent features of the building were stacks of overpriced books on all subjects, mostly by L. Ron Hubbard, behind every corner, in every nook and cranny of the place. The books ranged from the scientologist’s defining piece “Dianetics” to ridiculous propaganda on the par with the anti-vax movement, books claiming that psychiatric medication kills children.
The staff was largely unfriendly and even prohibited pictures from being taken inside a public information center, which set off several mental alarms at once for me. I’ve never known a place that attempts to be inviting to the public but prohibits a grainy cell phone picture of the books they have on display.
Overall, I couldn’t help but get a bad vibe from the place. The attendants with obviously fake grins, the open endorsement of the cult of personality surrounding L. Ron Hubbard and the feeling that you’re talking to a salesman rather than a clergyman when you’re greeted at the door was entirely off- putting and strange to me.The Introductory Videos (by Lainey Fallon)
The first video tasked with converting the staff of the Union Weekly was focused on the life and exploits of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the religion. Hubbard was apparently something of a child prodigy, as he was riding horses at three years old, and by the time he was thirteen, he had already become the youngest Eagle Scout in history. He went on to travel the globe searching for the common denominator of mankind, eventually identifying it as “survival.”
The creation of Scientology as a religion began when Hubbard was helping patients at a war hospital during WWII. By this point, the movie was triumphant, with clips of Scientology spreading across the globe and becoming, and I quote, “the only great religion of the twentieth century.”
After the introduction to the man behind the machine, we turned to an introduction of the religion itself. Unfortunately, this was where the movies moved away from specifically recounting Hubbard’s travels and awards and turned in to sweeping statements and generalities. Twenty different people recounted how their lives had been changed by Dianetics—the self-evaluation and -healing process proposed by Scientology—but while all of them spoke of how quick and effective the process was, none of them said what it was. And then the video told us to sign up for a session (paid, of course) if we were interested in learning how Dianetics could help us. In terms of a practical description, Wikipedia offers a better summary.
The next video, which focused on the tenets of Scientology’s school of belief, was thankfully more detailed. I especially enjoyed the eight dynamics of life as proposed by Scientology, which stated that one can seek to “survive”—which seemed to be a subset of “thrive”—on any of eight levels, all of which can be arranged as concentric circles beginning with you.
First, you have to satisfy your survival on the level of “self”; then you can move on to “creativity,” “group survival,” “species,” and so forth until you achieve “infinity.” This corresponded beautifully with my own belief in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which I quite enjoyed.
The only quibble I had with these videos, which constituted a broad (if superficial) introduction to the religion and its tenets, was that they are all available online. What is the point of going to an information center to see the same information that’s available at Scientology.Org?
Interview (by Lux Lisbon)
Aside from all the introductory videos that pretty much seemed like cheesy infomercials showcasing how much our lives will improve with Scientology, the attendant also informed us of a 50 minute film that we could watch of what was apparently the only filmed interview with its founder, L. Ron Hubbard.
This interview was filmed back in 1966 when he was still the Executive Director of the Church of Scientology. It began with Hubbard explaining how his teachings came about throughout his experiences all over the world, including the witnessing of the degradation of humanity and the extent of human suffering. According to him, man is inherently good, and he is put here on Earth to work out his own salvation.
Throughout this interview, two points stood out to me: one is that Hubbard completely invalidates psychology and psychiatry as legitimate courses of study, and two, that there is no place in Scientology for the mentally ill. Hubbard didn’t want Scientology associated with these two fields at all. Not only did he laugh at the mention of psychoanalysis, but he also seemed to cringe at the mention of Freud’s name. According to him, psychology treats man like an animal, while Scientology realizes the true essence of people, which is their spiritual being.
In terms of mental health, Hubbard expressed that “insane people are insane, and we cannot help them.” Apparently there is no hope for these people since they have already failed in life. Scientology is only for the able-bodied, those that can work, function and contribute to society. Helping the already defeated just seems like a hopeless cause. As I conducted more research, I also found out that Scientology is vehemently against the use of psychiatric drugs and regards this entire field as a conspiracy.
Before watching this film, I was actually thinking of giving this religion a chance. Sure, this whole thing seems like a glorified version of self-help, but maybe this modern day religion isn’t as absurd as the media makes it to be. But after watching this interview, I realized that Scientology is selective of the people it wants to help. It completely marginalizes the mental health population. As someone who is an ardent advocate for mental health, and who has seen firsthand the benefits of therapy and medication and how that can completely turn around someone’s life, a religion that invalidates all of this just doesn’t seem sound. Our advancements in neuroscience and mental health are just undeniable.
The OCA Test (by Benny Profane)
I always thought I was neurotic, but now I have proof. The Church of Scientology gave me their Oxford (not associated in any way with the prestigious university) Capacity Analysis. The OCA is a 200-question personality test (not endorsed by any major psychological association) that determines what type of person you are.
During my recent visit, I rolled into a room by the front lobby to take the OCA and was greeted by a receptionist. The receptionist was one of the loveliest ladies I have ever seen: golden brown skin, deep blue eyes, and softly brushed, midnight black hair. I tried unsuccessfully to make small talk until the official officials arrived. They did eventually and they gave me a white booklet and an eraserless pencil. Despite the series of ambiguous and syntactically awkward questions, I bubbled in the 3-answer-per-question (literally, “+, M and -”) scantron in about 20 minutes. I told a tie-wearing dude I was done and he took my test and told me to wait.
After 5 minutes of inquiring to the testing room receptionist about Dianetics, the front lobby receptionist appeared to read me my results. The lobby receptionist was a beautiful blonde with a no-nonsense attitude. She placed my results on a nearby table and had a look of concern on her pleasing symmetrical face. She
explained to me that I was “unorganized, unpredictable, irresponsible, nervous, critical,
indifferent, and pessimistic.” I also suffered from “antisocial behavior, lack of empathy for others, and a disregard for authority.” Basically, the main symptoms of psychopathy, according to many psychopathy experts.
Honestly, I wasn’t too shocked by the results. I’ve always known that I’m a self-actualized übermensch, but now it has been pseudoscientifically proven. I think the worst part of all of this was that after the receptionist pointed out all my flaws, she gave me the same two automatic responses: “How do you feel about that?” and “We can help you fix that.”
Being the indifferent bastard that I am, I just shrugged my shoulders to her first response. However, for her second statement, being the critical bastard that I am, I told her that I didn’t feel there was any need to fix my behavior. She looked at me quizzically with her hypnotic pale blue eyes and asked me, “Do you think this is a good personality to have?” Something about the tone of her voice irritated me. I was taken aback. So, being the unpredictable bastard that I am, I looked at her and replied, “I think that it’s a good personality for [a philosopher].” She didn’t say anything after that. That made me happy. Psychopaths like getting the last word in.
The OCA Test (by Scatman Cruthers)
After I had completed my 200-question OCA Personality Test, I was nervous. To my dismay, the man from the front desk (who was already very suspicious of my staff and myself) confidently stretched out a hand. He offered me coffee, sat down close to me, and after I answered that, no, my parents are not divorced, he leaned forward and asked, “Tell me what you know about Scientology. I know you’ve heard a lot of things about it.” So I explained that from what I’ve heard, people say it’s a money-hungry cult.
He gave me a shit-eating grin and gave a lengthy explanation as to why that was absurd, decorating it with a bunch of sarcastic points like, “A year of classes is only $700. That’s SO much,” as if I really did have $700 to throw away on nonsense.
I decided to be completely in agreement. Why not just let him try and sell it? “That makes sense,” I would say to every point he brought up. He brought forward my results: a printed graph with several
sharp points downward. He described that the graph indicated that I suffered from anxiety, felt I had no grasp over my environment, was depressed, and that I basically had a negative perception of myself, all the while reassuring me that these are things I think about myself. But funnily enough, I really did agree with most of the assessment. He brought it home with the question, “What if I took you, as anxious and unconfident as you are, and made you the most composed, put-together person you can imagine?”
Very sincerely, I answered that I’d like that a lot. “We can help you become that.” After that he said nothing and left me to stare at the graph in silence. After filling out a prescription-like form with a recommendation for a $70 class called “Personal Efficiency,” he left me feeling perturbed that someone so intent on gaining my acceptance would leave me feeling so unsure of myself.
Conclusions
We discovered that Scientology is no more wackier than the other religious institutions out there. In fact, there are many parallels between Scientology and every other religion on the planet. Every belief system tells you that you are broken, imperfect, or there’s something wrong about you. However, the same dogma tells you that they have the solution your shortcomings. How convenient.
I honestly believe that the members of the Church of Scientology mean well, but, just like with every other religion, it’s a leap of faith. If Scientology works for you, go for it. But I would suggest that you first seek professional help before you put your life in the hands of people who have no background in medicine.
I understand that there are spiritual needs that modern medicine cannot fulfill. Having said that, faith is no substitute for well-being. Some people have to believe in some sort of higher power, but why can’t we start believing in other people? We’re all part of this collective condition and sometimes overwhelming experience. We need to work together in order to reduce the level of chaos and create an acceptable state of human harmony. And that, my friends, is free. It doesn’t require a valid credit card.
—
We’re afraid of what we don’t know, and the perceived mysteriousness of the organization made us unsure of what we were going to encounter. Were we going to be strapped to chairs and forced to watch propaganda films against our wills? Would men in cloaks whisper verses from L. Ron Hubbard’s biography into our ears as we frantically looked for an exit? As it turns out, the Scientology center was not a dark cave lit with candles and filled with rat bones. It was clean, presentable, and managed by attractive employees in crisp uniforms. If you weren’t suspecting it, you would never catch the hint of subtle crazy in the well-produced videos and the enthusiasm of the staff.
—
Our unease was mostly fueled by our decision to call in ahead of time and explain that we’re from a campus newspaper that was hoping to get an interview with someone on staff. They refused, but encouraged us to come anyway. Once we arrived we felt watched, slowly noticing all the cameras and nervously trying to deflect the main receptionist’s inquiries about our association with a school newspaper. Maybe it was pure paranoia, but when they took a picture of us while we were viewing one of the videos on a showcase, it got to our heads. We noticed that they left us to ourselves, as another family was given a full tour and the full attention of the employees. Maybe they knew not to waste their time on a group of young adults who were probably less likely to be converted to Scientology than the Pope himself.
—
Even now we’re unsure what we were trying to gain out of our experience. For the most part, it was fueled by sheer curiosity. In an attempt to find a bunch of lunatics wearing foil hats, we just found a bunch of people who sincerely believed what they preached. Granted, there are large parts of Scientology that we don’t agree with, but the same goes for other religions and belief systems that we don’t align ourselves with. Some of us left the center laughing, some left it with indifference and some left feeling pretty weirded out. As we were leaving, we noticed a man who had come into the center completely at his wit’s end. He was an alcoholic, felt alone, and needed help. If the purpose of religion is to help others in their time of need, then who’s to say that believing in Scientology is any crazier than any other religion?
Atmosphere (by Adolpho Madera)
The entire atmosphere of the Scientology information center reeked of crass commercialism and televangelism. The building, ornate and almost futuristic on the outside was more like a Barnes and Noble on the inside. The most prominent features of the building were stacks of overpriced books on all subjects, mostly by L. Ron Hubbard, behind every corner, in every nook and cranny of the place. The books ranged from the scientologist’s defining piece “Dianetics” to ridiculous propaganda on the par with the anti-vax movement, books claiming that psychiatric medication kills children.
The staff was largely unfriendly and even prohibited pictures from being taken inside a public information center, which set off several mental alarms at once for me. I’ve never known a place that attempts to be inviting to the public but prohibits a grainy cell phone picture of the books they have on display.
Overall, I couldn’t help but get a bad vibe from the place. The attendants with obviously fake grins, the open endorsement of the cult of personality surrounding L. Ron Hubbard and the feeling that you’re talking to a salesman rather than a clergyman when you’re greeted at the door was entirely off- putting and strange to me.The Introductory Videos (by Lainey Fallon)
The first video tasked with converting the staff of the Union Weekly was focused on the life and exploits of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the religion. Hubbard was apparently something of a child prodigy, as he was riding horses at three years old, and by the time he was thirteen, he had already become the youngest Eagle Scout in history. He went on to travel the globe searching for the common denominator of mankind, eventually identifying it as “survival.”
The creation of Scientology as a religion began when Hubbard was helping patients at a war hospital during WWII. By this point, the movie was triumphant, with clips of Scientology spreading across the globe and becoming, and I quote, “the only great religion of the twentieth century.”
After the introduction to the man behind the machine, we turned to an introduction of the religion itself. Unfortunately, this was where the movies moved away from specifically recounting Hubbard’s travels and awards and turned in to sweeping statements and generalities. Twenty different people recounted how their lives had been changed by Dianetics—the self-evaluation and -healing process proposed by Scientology—but while all of them spoke of how quick and effective the process was, none of them said what it was. And then the video told us to sign up for a session (paid, of course) if we were interested in learning how Dianetics could help us. In terms of a practical description, Wikipedia offers a better summary.
The next video, which focused on the tenets of Scientology’s school of belief, was thankfully more detailed. I especially enjoyed the eight dynamics of life as proposed by Scientology, which stated that one can seek to “survive”—which seemed to be a subset of “thrive”—on any of eight levels, all of which can be arranged as concentric circles beginning with you.
First, you have to satisfy your survival on the level of “self”; then you can move on to “creativity,” “group survival,” “species,” and so forth until you achieve “infinity.” This corresponded beautifully with my own belief in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which I quite enjoyed.
The only quibble I had with these videos, which constituted a broad (if superficial) introduction to the religion and its tenets, was that they are all available online. What is the point of going to an information center to see the same information that’s available at Scientology.Org?
Interview (by Lux Lisbon)
Aside from all the introductory videos that pretty much seemed like cheesy infomercials showcasing how much our lives will improve with Scientology, the attendant also informed us of a 50 minute film that we could watch of what was apparently the only filmed interview with its founder, L. Ron Hubbard.
This interview was filmed back in 1966 when he was still the Executive Director of the Church of Scientology. It began with Hubbard explaining how his teachings came about throughout his experiences all over the world, including the witnessing of the degradation of humanity and the extent of human suffering. According to him, man is inherently good, and he is put here on Earth to work out his own salvation.
Throughout this interview, two points stood out to me: one is that Hubbard completely invalidates psychology and psychiatry as legitimate courses of study, and two, that there is no place in Scientology for the mentally ill. Hubbard didn’t want Scientology associated with these two fields at all. Not only did he laugh at the mention of psychoanalysis, but he also seemed to cringe at the mention of Freud’s name. According to him, psychology treats man like an animal, while Scientology realizes the true essence of people, which is their spiritual being.
In terms of mental health, Hubbard expressed that “insane people are insane, and we cannot help them.” Apparently there is no hope for these people since they have already failed in life. Scientology is only for the able-bodied, those that can work, function and contribute to society. Helping the already defeated just seems like a hopeless cause. As I conducted more research, I also found out that Scientology is vehemently against the use of psychiatric drugs and regards this entire field as a conspiracy.Before watching this film, I was actually thinking of giving this religion a chance. Sure, this whole thing seems like a glorified version of self-help, but maybe this modern day religion isn’t as absurd as the media makes it to be. But after watching this interview, I realized that Scientology is selective of the people it wants to help. It completely marginalizes the mental health population. As someone who is an ardent advocate for mental health, and who has seen firsthand the benefits of therapy and medication and how that can completely turn around someone’s life, a religion that invalidates all of this just doesn’t seem sound. Our advancements in neuroscience and mental health are just undeniable.
The OCA Test (by Benny Profane)I always thought I was neurotic, but now I have proof. The Church of Scientology gave me their Oxford (not associated in any way with the prestigious university) Capacity Analysis. The OCA is a 200-question personality test (not endorsed by any major psychological association) that determines what type of person you are.
During my recent visit, I rolled into a room by the front lobby to take the OCA and was greeted by a receptionist. The receptionist was one of the loveliest ladies I have ever seen: golden brown skin, deep blue eyes, and softly brushed, midnight black hair. I tried unsuccessfully to make small talk until the official officials arrived. They did eventually and they gave me a white booklet and an eraserless pencil. Despite the series of ambiguous and syntactically awkward questions, I bubbled in the 3-answer-per-question (literally, “+, M and -”) scantron in about 20 minutes. I told a tie-wearing dude I was done and he took my test and told me to wait.
After 5 minutes of inquiring to the testing room receptionist about Dianetics, the front lobby receptionist appeared to read me my results. The lobby receptionist was a beautiful blonde with a no-nonsense attitude. She placed my results on a nearby table and had a look of concern on her pleasing symmetrical face. She
explained to me that I was “unorganized, unpredictable, irresponsible, nervous, critical,
indifferent, and pessimistic.” I also suffered from “antisocial behavior, lack of empathy for others, and a disregard for authority.” Basically, the main symptoms of psychopathy, according to many psychopathy experts.
Honestly, I wasn’t too shocked by the results. I’ve always known that I’m a self-actualized übermensch, but now it has been pseudoscientifically proven. I think the worst part of all of this was that after the receptionist pointed out all my flaws, she gave me the same two automatic responses: “How do you feel about that?” and “We can help you fix that.”
Being the indifferent bastard that I am, I just shrugged my shoulders to her first response. However, for her second statement, being the critical bastard that I am, I told her that I didn’t feel there was any need to fix my behavior. She looked at me quizzically with her hypnotic pale blue eyes and asked me, “Do you think this is a good personality to have?” Something about the tone of her voice irritated me. I was taken aback. So, being the unpredictable bastard that I am, I looked at her and replied, “I think that it’s a good personality for [a philosopher].” She didn’t say anything after that. That made me happy. Psychopaths like getting the last word in.
The OCA Test (by Scatman Cruthers)
After I had completed my 200-question OCA Personality Test, I was nervous. To my dismay, the man from the front desk (who was already very suspicious of my staff and myself) confidently stretched out a hand. He offered me coffee, sat down close to me, and after I answered that, no, my parents are not divorced, he leaned forward and asked, “Tell me what you know about Scientology. I know you’ve heard a lot of things about it.” So I explained that from what I’ve heard, people say it’s a money-hungry cult.
He gave me a shit-eating grin and gave a lengthy explanation as to why that was absurd, decorating it with a bunch of sarcastic points like, “A year of classes is only $700. That’s SO much,” as if I really did have $700 to throw away on nonsense.
I decided to be completely in agreement. Why not just let him try and sell it? “That makes sense,” I would say to every point he brought up. He brought forward my results: a printed graph with several
sharp points downward. He described that the graph indicated that I suffered from anxiety, felt I had no grasp over my environment, was depressed, and that I basically had a negative perception of myself, all the while reassuring me that these are things I think about myself. But funnily enough, I really did agree with most of the assessment. He brought it home with the question, “What if I took you, as anxious and unconfident as you are, and made you the most composed, put-together person you can imagine?”
Very sincerely, I answered that I’d like that a lot. “We can help you become that.” After that he said nothing and left me to stare at the graph in silence. After filling out a prescription-like form with a recommendation for a $70 class called “Personal Efficiency,” he left me feeling perturbed that someone so intent on gaining my acceptance would leave me feeling so unsure of myself.
Conclusions
We discovered that Scientology is no more wackier than the other religious institutions out there. In fact, there are many parallels between Scientology and every other religion on the planet. Every belief system tells you that you are broken, imperfect, or there’s something wrong about you. However, the same dogma tells you that they have the solution your shortcomings. How convenient.
I honestly believe that the members of the Church of Scientology mean well, but, just like with every other religion, it’s a leap of faith. If Scientology works for you, go for it. But I would suggest that you first seek professional help before you put your life in the hands of people who have no background in medicine.
I understand that there are spiritual needs that modern medicine cannot fulfill. Having said that, faith is no substitute for well-being. Some people have to believe in some sort of higher power, but why can’t we start believing in other people? We’re all part of this collective condition and sometimes overwhelming experience. We need to work together in order to reduce the level of chaos and create an acceptable state of human harmony. And that, my friends, is free. It doesn’t require a valid credit card.
Multiply below by a thousand and you have the future of scientology in a nutshell
'I lost friends': Leah Remini gives first TV interview since leaving Scientology... as Ellen DeGeneres tries to lighten the mood
|
It is the first time she has spoken about leaving the controversial religion Scientology.
However, it seems that actress Leah Remini is still able to raise a smile when talking about her experiences.
In a light-hearted interview, Leah, 43, laughed as chat show queen Ellen Degeneres poked fun at the religion.
Confession: Leah Remini revealed to talk show host Ellen DeGeneres that she has 'lost friends' since leaving Scientology
Trying on a bra that included an acoholic beverage dispensing tube, Ellen quipped: 'I'm thinking you got kicked out of Scientology!'.
The joke prompted much laughter from the audience, and from Leah.
But earlier, the actress - who will be competing on the new series of Dancing With The Stars, spoke more seriously about her decision to leave the religion.
'My mother and I got involved when we were really young so it was all we really ever knew,' she said, before explaining that after her 'eyes were then opened' she could 'no longer be affiliated' with the religion.
Seeing the funny side: Although Leah appeared sombre when talking about the religion, Ellen later was able to make the actress laugh
Talk to the hand: Ellen poked fun at Scientology during the interview, as well as giving words of support to Leah
'We've lost friends that can no longer talk to us who are still in the organization,' she told a vocally shocked sounding Ellen.
Adding: 'These are friends that we've had for dozens of years.'
Ellen then repeatedly told the star that Leah had a friend in her and the audience.
The actress had a very public break up with the church last month partly fueled by her own personal inquiry into the whereabouts of Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige, after she was allegedly rebuked for asking at Tom Cruise's 2006 wedding.
From Scientology to salsa: Leah Remini will compete in the new series of Dancing With The Stars which returns this month
Leah, who starred in the hit sitcom The King of Queens for nine years, is believed to have dropped out of the organization as a stand against the policy of barring members from questioning Mr Miscavige's authority.
The rift began when she allegedly asked about Shelly's absence, a source told the New York Post, at the wedding of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes in 2006, where David Miscavige was best man.
The question allegedly prompted an immediate backlash from former head of the Scientology Celebrity Center Tommy Davis.
Speaking out: 'We've lost friends that can no longer talk to us who are still in the organization,' Leah told a visibly shocked sounding Ellen
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2416468/Leah-Remini-gives-TV-interview-leaving-Scientology-chat-queen-Ellen-DeGeneres.html#ixzz2eRvQgF00
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
0 comments:
Post a Comment