Leah Remini says life is a ‘constant struggle’ a decade after leaving Scientology
Remini is regularly ‘consumed by fear’, anxiety, and depression after leaving the religion
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Your support makes all the difference.Leah Remini has said that life after leaving Scientology has been a “constant struggle” in a candid new post on X/Twitter.
The King of Queens actor, who left the Church of Scientology over a decade ago, said that her experiences from the ensuing fallout had been filled with depression, anxiety and fear.
She also alleged that operatives from the Church had orchestrated a campaign against her which had left her friends and family “in danger”.
Remini, 53, left the church in 2013 and says she only recently started saying “yes instead of no to opportunities that involve leaving my home and venturing out into the world”.
In the social media post, the actor and activist said: “It has been a decade since I fled from Scientology with my family, but it is a constant struggle to push myself to experience my life.
“I will have a good day and think to myself, ‘OK, tomorrow I’m going to continue to do things that I want to do,’ and then depression takes over. I get consumed by fear and find every reason not to go.”
The former follower made numerous claims about her former Church, which counts Tom Cruise and John Travolta among its most famous members, in her 2016 book Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology.
She produced an Emmy award-winning documentary called Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath upon leaving the religion. She won the International Documentary Association’s Truth to Power Award in 2019.
Remini has long alleged that Scientology members have attempted to intimidate and harass her.
“Since I escaped from Scientology in 2013, I have been followed constantly by Scientology operatives and agents,” she claimed in her recent post.
“These people hide in the shadows to monitor my movements and who I am meeting with so they can report back to Scientology’s intelligence agency, the Office of Special Affairs.”
Remini also went on to accuse the Church of taking “unflattering” photos of her and recruiting “vulnerable people living with severe mental illness” to harass and intimidate her.
In addition to the impact on her mental health, the actor said she had been struggling with the physical effects of menopause adding: “Not only did I, out of nowhere, break out in hives and have some allergic reaction to something for which I now have to carry an EpiPen everywhere I go, but I am also going through Perimenopause.”
A spokesperson for the Church of Scientology said: “If Remini can no longer get a job, she has nobody to blame but herself. Obviously everybody in Hollywood now knows what we already knew: That Remini is a horrible person and toxic to so many who have the misfortune to come in contact with her.”
The Independent has contacted Remini’s representative for comment.