Scientology slams renewal of Leah Remini’s docuseries

[James Carter]

A new war of words has broken out over Leah Remini‘s show,
“Scientology and the Aftermath” after A&E renewed it for a
second season on Wednesday.

Remini — the “King of Queens” TV star who broke from the
religion about four years ago — said in a statement of her show
being picked up, “It became clear to us that although we were
telling painful stories of former members of the Church of
Scientology, this show was resonating strongly with people
everywhere.” She added, “The show is really about standing up
for what is right and not letting bullies have their way. I feel
it is important for people to know that you can take action to
bring about change, both for yourself and for others.”

A&E’s prepping an Emmy campaign for the series’ first season,
which has been pulling in solid ratings with an average of three
million viewers, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

But a rep for Scientology responded on Wednesday by alleging
Remini’s “teamed with A&E to shamelessly turn religious hate
into a commodity by treating it as entertainment” and accused
the network of “compensating Remini’s sources” for the show.

“Real transparency would be for A&E to detail all forms of
compensation made to sources spreading religious hate and
bigotry on Leah Remini’s show,” a Scientology rep said in a
statement to Page Six. “When the network cancelled ‘Generation
KKK,’ the network claimed that paying sources violated company
policies. Yet at the same time it was hypocritically
compensating Remini’s sources with money and significant in-kind
payments. A&E can’t have it both [ways].”

Last year, A&E canceled a series on KKK members before it aired,
saying it learned that producers paid some participants. TMZ
reported in December that a lawyer for Scientology wrote A&E
alleging a double standard by canceling “Generation KKK” while
keeping Remini’s on the air.

But Variety reported an unnamed TV source saying of the
situation, “We’re talking about payments made to hate group
members versus payment to Leah, the [executive producer] of the
show” and “It’s apples and oranges.”

The religion’s rep further alleged to Page Six, “A&E has a duty
to conduct a thorough investigation into the extent to which
Leah Remini’s show violates its own internal policies,” and,
“The Church has repeatedly asked A&E to investigate the
production of the Remini series and financial payments,
especially in the wake of numerous violent threats generated
against the Church, its leaders and parishioners coinciding with
the airing of the series. Those hate crimes include death
threats and acts of vandalism, many of which have been and are
now the subject of law enforcement investigations.”

The church — which has created an entire Web site dedicated to
Remini’s show, leahreminiaftermath.com — alleges that one person
paid for the show is former member Mike Rinder.

An A&E rep declined to comment.

Meanwhile, the first season of Remini’s show has already sparked
controversy. The LAPD is investigating actor Danny Masterson
after three women — reportedly inspired by Remini — came forward
with allegations of sexual abuse against the “The ’70s Show”
star. Masterson has vigorously denied the allegations, and his
rep turned the finger back on Remini for instigating them.

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