Leah Remini finally stopped with the coded messages and spoke directly and publicly about leaving Scientology today with her appearance on The Ellen Degeneres Show. But it still was a very limited statement, and nothing like the detail that we provided when we broke the story of her defection on July 8 and in a lengthy interview with her sister Nicole on July 18.
It’s a big deal that Leah said anything at all on such a popular daytime show, and Ellen’s reactions are priceless. But essentially, Leah’s story remains untold by her, and we’re looking forward to her going into so many things we’ve learned about her defection from Scientology: the scene at the wedding of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes in 2006, the three months of interrogations she went through when she dared to ask about the disappearance of the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige, and how she managed to convince her entire family to leave with her.
It’s a great story, and it remains to be told by her. Leah, we’re listening!
But here’s what went down on Ellen’s show…
ELLEN: Why did you choose to leave, if you can answer that?
LEAH: Well, you know, my mother got involved when we were very young, so it’s all we really ever knew. But over time my eyes opened, and I just could no longer be affiliated with the organization, and my family felt the same, so we left.
…
ELLEN: Are you OK?
LEAH: I’m OK. Yeah, I’m OK. To answer your question, it’s hard, and we’ve lost friends that can no longer talk to us who are still in the organization.
ELLEN: Now, that is a thing, when you leave the church they can’t talk to you or you can’t talk to them or something?
LEAH: Correct.
ELLEN: Wow.
LEAH: And these are friends that we’ve had for, you know dozens of years. But, I have great friends, other friends that are not in the church that have stood by us. And our family is stronger, we’re together, and that’s all I can ask for.
ELLEN: You have me, I’m your friend, we’re your friends.
And that’s it. (Except for a cute quip later by Ellen about Leah being kicked out of the church rather than defecting.)
What do you think? Will this brief exchange have a big effect on Scientology? Give us your thoughts.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on September 9, 2013 at 16:30
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