Why Leah Remini Was Estranged From Her Father Up Until His Death
Leah Remini was born in New York to Vicki Marshall and George Remini, but her parents divorced when she was just seven years old. Leah was brought into the Church of Scientology about a year later. Fans of Leah's family reality show, "It's All Relative," are probably familiar with Vicki, who starred on the program alongside her husband, George Marshall, though many people don't know much about Leah's dad. The two were fairly close when "The King of Queens" star was young, but they drifted apart as adults. When George Remini died in 2019, Leah and her sister, Nicole, actually found out the news through a complete stranger.
"We had no idea that he had died a month ago," Leah wrote in the caption of an Instagram post in September 2019. "We weren't aware that he had been sick leading up to his death. A funeral came and went and none of us knew anything about it. We were not able to say goodbye. He was not able to redeem himself, to ask for forgiveness for his failures and hurts, to become a better man to those of us who couldn't help but love him," she added. Leah also said that she had forgiven her father despite their "difficult relationship" and went on to explain the real reason behind their estrangement.
Leah Remini blames Scientology for her sour relationship with her dad
In July 2013, Leah Remini broke away from Scientology. It wasn't until her daughter, Sofia, got older that Leah realized that she didn't want to integrate her child into that lifestyle. "The mission is to save the planet and because Scientologists view children as spiritual beings, you're not treated as a kid. You're given a lot of responsibility, and so your ego becomes extremely inflated," Leah said during an interview on "20/20" that aired in 2015 (per Us Weekly). The actor stepped away to avoid repeating the mistakes that her own mother made.
And while Leah has been determined to save the relationship that she has with her daughter, she completely blames the church for destroying the one that she had with her father. When Leah left Scientology, George Remini did an interview with the church alleging that Leah had agreed to pay $1,500 for George to be tested for cancer, but never did. He and his wife, Dana, went on to do several other videos blasting Leah, presumably for money.
Leah wrote on Instagram, "The last chapter in our relationship was dictated by Scientology. Scientology took my dad in as a pawn against me and likely robbed him of any last ounce of heart that might have been left in him." She added, "I'm angry that Scientology found his personal weak spots and got him on board not with their beliefs but with their smear campaign against me."
George Remini said he was 'hurt' by what Leah Remini wrote in her book
After leaving Scientology, Leah Remini wrote a book called "Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology." In the book, she talked about her strained relationship with her father, amongst other things — and her dad said that he was "hurt" by what he read. In a video posted to the website "LeahReminiTheFacts," George Remini shared his feelings. "What hurt me most about the book is that Leah said a lot of things like, I'm a drug dealer, I'm a pimp, I'm this, I'm that. And I said, 'Where are you getting this?'" he shared. "It's just like her show on Scientology. She doesn't talk to anybody who would know if they're true or not, but she'll still air what goes on." George wondered how his daughter could "say these things about me," but was hopeful that they could mend their relationship.
After George died, the Church of Scientology also fired off a statement to People. "Leah Remini blames everyone but herself for destroying her relationships. It's beyond hypocritical. She was estranged from her father, who was never a member of the religion, for years and now even exploits his sad passing for tabloid attention," the statement read.