Leah Remini said that she wants the Church of Scientology to sue her during a sit-down with Dr. Oz, which will air on Thursday, December 1.
The King of Queens alum, 46, left the controversial religion three years ago. She detailed why she quit in her 2015 book, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology, and is now exposing more secrets in her eight-part docuseries, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, which premiered on A&E on Tuesday, November 29.
“They’re just sitting, waiting to sue the crap out of me, and I wish they would,” Remini told Dr. Oz. “Why do I wish they would? Because they’d have to be deposed. I’d have to be deposed, so we’d get some real information out. They won’t sue me, because they know that’s true. They know that these stories are true or they would have sued the crap out of every single one of us.”
The actress, who helps other ex-church members share their stories in her series, further explained that as the mother of a 12-year-old daughter, Sofia, she feels for parents who have a rift with their kids over the religion. “It’s heartbreaking, it’s disgusting. As a mother, it just fires me up in a way that I can’t imagine,” she said. “So when people tell me to move on, I go, right, yeah, tell that to her. Tell that to the mothers and fathers who lost their kids or have to deal with the fact that their children were taken advantage of. Tell them that.”
Spokespeople for the church have continually denied and disputed Remini’s claims. The comedian responded to their criticism on Dr. Oz, saying, “If I’m so insignificant, if I’m such a liar, if I’m just doing this for attention and money — you’re a big, powerful organization with $3 billion. You’re the epitome of morality. Why bother with such a piece of crap like me? Why call five, six times just on one show? Why bother with me?”
Earlier this week, the Church of Scientology again spoke out against Remini, telling Us Weekly in a statement, “Leah Remini is doing this show for the money, just as she profited from her book. In addition, she attempted to extort the Church by first demanding $500,000, followed by an additional $1 million, because the Church invoked its First Amendment right to respond to her false claims with the truth. This shows the extent Leah Remini is willing to go to in order to distort the truth about Scientology. For the Church’s perspective and the truth about the bullies she now supports, go to www.leahreminiaftermath.com.”
Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath airs on A&E Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET.
