Inside Leah Remini's Most Controversial Claims About Scientology

Scientology has been mired in controversy since the religion first sprouted from science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard's 1950 bestselling self-help book, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. The overarching organization, the Church of Scientology International (CSI), describes itself as the "mother church of the Scientology religion." What started as an alternative to psychotherapy morphed into a religious organization that has been dogged for decades by whispers of brainwashing, grifting, and cult-like isolation.

High-profile members of CSI, including Tom Cruise, are so indoctrinated that there seems to be no light between their beliefs and those of the organization. Other celebrity Scientologists, like The King of Queens' Leah Remini, are forced to make grave personal sacrifices if they question, or ultimately decide to leave, the organization. 

Remini was so disillusioned by what she experienced, she decided to use her elevated profile to expose what happens behind closed doors at the highest levels of Scientology. Her A&E documentary series, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, has exposed the shocking treatment a legion of ex-Scientologists say they received at the hands of CSI. In response, CSI issued a statement to Rolling Stone, which read, in part, "Ms. Remini is being compensated for this show...[and] has repeatedly disparaged and exploited her former faith for profit and attention through a series of failed publicity stunts, culminating in her reality TV show featuring [defectors] who have been telling differing versions of the same false tales of abuse for years."

Let's dive into some of those tales. 

Scientology and the Aftermath explores the structure of CSI's "Bridge to Total Freedom." Remini says prospective members are reeled in by inexpensive "throwaway" introductory courses designed to indoctrinate members to the Bridge. Remini and her frequent co-host, former CSI spokesperson Mike Rinder (above left), say the texts of the core Scientology curriculum, twelve books written by L. Ron Hubbard, cost members about $4,000. The most expensive part of the Bridge by far, though, is auditing, which can cost members up to "$800 an hour" (via Business Insider).

Auditing, while touted as therapeutic, is not used solely to eradicate spiritual stagnation. Members are sometimes interrogated during these prepaid sessions in what Remini claims are called "Security Checks." This can occur if a member is suspected of breaking a rule or being influenced by sources outside of the organization. Members are at the mercy of CSI leaders, who decide, based on e-meter readings, whether a person is lying, in a state of spiritual distress, or lacking the clarity to advance to the next step of the Bridge. Even those who complete the program are sometimes forced to repeat (and pay for) it from the beginning. Learn Religions estimates a Scientologist will spend more than $250,000 to reach the highest level of enlightenment attainable. Remini and Rinder say it can easily top half a million (via The Hollywood Reporter). The Church does not appear to have issued a statement contradicting these specific claims about cost.

When the ideas expressed in Dianetics were not embraced by the psychiatric community, L. Ron Hubbard decided to eschew psychiatry and promote his system of treating mental illness as superior (via NIH). During a Reddit AMA, Remini said Scientologists "deny mental illness and afflictions...They will prevent people from getting the real medical help that they need, and in some cases have caused suicides because of it."

Ex-member Brandon Reisdorf says he received abusive "treatment" at the hands of the church, including being locked in a room during manic episodes and put through a process called "Introspection Rundown" (via The Underground Bunker), which amounts to being locked up in isolation until he was calm. But the procedure backfired. Brandon's father said he "came back worse than when he went in." After leaving Scientology, Reisdorf was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but before stabilizing on medication, he threw a hammer through a church window when he realized his brother, who remained with the church, would no longer communicate with him.

CSI responded to the story about Reisdorf saying, in part, "The Reisdorfs...actually try to blame their former religion for a violent attack against the Los Angeles Church by their son Brandon in which he was arrested and charged by authorities before pleading guilty." CSI allegedly complained about the TV appearance to Reisdorf's probation officer, but nothing came of it because no laws or probation terms were broken.

Remini states it plainly on the show (via Business Insider), "The Church of Scientology is a business. And like any business, they like to have a celebrity selling it." L. Ron Hubbard created "Project Celebrity" (via Xenu.net archives) in 1955 to recruit well-known figures in sports, film, music, and writing to Scientology, and he offered rewards to anyone who could recruit celebrities. Los Angeles Magazine reported, "The media-savvy Hubbard recognized early on that famous people were a potent lure to attract new members. He assiduously catered to stars and established well-appointed 'Celebrity Centres' in various cities."

Remini says celebrities are "serviced differently ... there were Sea Org members working for celebrities in their homes. ... I know of one celeb who had a Sea Org member working in their home, and Sea Org members were averaging $25/week." Amy Scobee, who was in charge of Tom Cruise's staff, was told to hire only Scientologists to be in his orbit. "Scientology concentrates on collecting celebrities," Scobee said. "The ultimate goal is for celebs to be the 'walking success stories' of Scientology." CSI has a long list of celebrity ex-members, as well. 

Steven Kent, co-editor of Scientology in Popular Culture, told FOLIO, "The curious irony in all of this is that the trends Hubbard exploited so successfully when he created Scientology in the 1950s — emerging communications technology and the power of popular culture, especially celebrity recruitment — are the very forces conspiring against it now.

CSI's oppressive retention policies, and the lengths to which they will go to reign in ex-members, according to The St. Petersburg Times (via Gawker), include alleged stalking, blackmail, and physical intimidation. They also reportedly utilize guards and barbed fences! Amy Scobee revealed on Leah Remini's show (via Rolling Stone) that she and her husband were sent to a prison camp, the Rehabilitation Project Force, which CSI benignly describes a rehabilitation camp for members of Sea Org, the church's elite "religious order," who "have failed to fulfill their ecclesiastical responsibilities." Former members call it "the hole." The Scobees decided to leave Scientology after "repeated stints" at the camp, where they claim they were guarded round-the-clock with a personal detail. A New Yorker exposé in 2011 revealed CSI was under investigation for human trafficking by the FBI for forced labor, including that of minors, and imprisonment. A 2019 lawsuit, according to NBC News, made the same accusations, which the church vehemently denies. 

"The reasons for [being sent to the hole] could be anything," Rinder said on the show (via Rolling Stone), adding, "From answering a question wrongly, not answering a question, a facial expression that was inappropriate, falling asleep after being up for a couple of days." In an interview with Tony Ortega for The Village Voice, Rinder said one of the reasons he stayed with the church so long was an "incremental increase in degradation."

CSI simply told ABC News, "The Hole does not exist."

When reports emerged that four women had accused former Scientologist and flimmaker Paul Haggis (above left) of sexual assault, Mike Rinder and Leah Remini posted an open letter in his defense, which read (in part), "We expect the next 'revelations' about Paul Haggis in this campaign to destroy him to be based on information culled from his Scientology files in the form of more 'anonymous' accusers, hiding behind a lawyer who will never have to disclose who is paying their bill. Those who accuse without going to law enforcement, those who seek hush money to keep their stories secret, those who make accusations to the media anonymously — they are suspect. And when the target of these tactics is someone who is a prominent critic of Scientology, it is very suspect."

According to the Daily Beast, Haggis' one on-the-record accuser (the other three remain anonymous as of this writing) offered contemporaneous anecdotal evidence and says her allegations, and she, have nothing to do with Scientology. Haggis contends his encounter with this accuser was consensual. Remini didn't offer further comment to the Daily Beast, but Rinder explained the accuser's lack of Scientology links as irrelevant, because "you can get all sorts of people to do all sorts of things." 

Leah Remini examines "disconnection" in the series' very first episode. Per Business Insider, Remini claims that Scientologists' belief in reincarnation makes it easier for members to disconnect from their families because they believe they have several biological families throughout their lifetimes as a spiritual being. A Scientology screening tool, the "Chart of Human Evaluation" helps members decide who is worthy of their time and attention. Executive Director of the Cult Education Institute Rick Ross says (via FOX News), "The public should know that Scientology has routinely declared people SP (a suppressive person) and then encouraged Scientologists, including family members, to disconnect from SPs or risk being labeled a PTS (Potential Trouble Source). This policy has hurt many families."

An immensely high-profile family split was that of Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige. His father, Ron, describes the security measures like locked doors and spiked gates as being designed to both keep members in and keep strangers out. Many were cut off from the outside world by any feasible means, but David gave his father a gadget that gave him access to the outside world: an internet-connected Kindle. Remini said (via Business Insider), "Ron just Googled 'Scientology' and he was hard-pressed to find anything good that the world was saying." Ron and his wife left the church in 2011, after 42 years. They were immediately cut off from their children and other loved ones who remained Scientologists.