Leah Remini is once again speaking out about her much-talked about decision to leave the Church of Scientology last summer. Why did she do it? In an interview with Buzzfeed, she cites “dozens” of factors that led to her July 2013 exit, but none as important as her 9-year-old daughter, Sofia. Leah Remini Reveals Why She Left Scientology “She was getting to the age where the acclimation into the Church would have to start,” Remini explains, referring to Scientology’s “auditing” process. That brought up memories of the actress’ own experience with the Church as a child, and how it affected her relationship with her mother, Vicki. Vicki moved the family to a Scientology compound in Clearwater, Fla., shortly before Remini’s 10th birthday, and spent a lot of time at the Church. “I started thinking of my own childhood and how I grew up resenting my mother because she was never home,” she says of that time in her life. Remini added that, “my mom thought she was doing something good; she thought she was helping the planet. That’s what the Church tells you. “In my house, it’s family first … but I was spending most of my time at the Church,” she says. “So, I was saying ‘family first,’ but I wasn’t showing that.” Leah Remini vs. Scientology “I didn’t like the message that sent my daughter.” Initially, she says, she tried to make changes “from within” the Church, but they didn’t take. “They didn’t want to,” she says of her friends in Scientology. “That showed me they didn’t actually care, which went against everything I thought we stood for. They only cared that their lives would be disrupted.” “They didn’t care about doing the right thing.” “In the Church, you’re taught that everybody is lost. They say they’re loving, caring, non-judgmental people, but secretly, they were judging the world.” “To me, that is not a spiritual person. That’s a judgmental person and that is what I was. I was a hypocrite, and the worst thing you can be in this world is a hypocrite.” “I don’t want to be known as this bitter, ex-Scientologist. I’m not trying to bash anybody [or] to be controversial. I just want people to know the truth.”
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Leah Remini: I Left Scientology Because …
