Actress and former Scientology member Leah Remini is hot on revealing more details about the religion which she belonged to for 30 years. The details add to the information she provided in her newly released book titled "Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology."
On Friday, she told ABC News' "20/20" that church leaders asked her to invite Jennifer Lopez and husband Marc Anthony to the wedding of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes in 2006. The couple accepted the invitation, but during the three-day celebration of the wedding, Remini says the church made extra efforts to separate her from "her celebrity guests."
They travelled in different cars and sat at different tables which annoyed Remini. She discloses, "They were always trying to extract me. I could only assume because they wanted to make Jennifer a Scientologist, and maybe I was barring that road for them," quotes Fox.
While Lopez, a Roman Catholic, did not comment on Remini's claim, a Scientology spokesperson belied her claim, saying it is all false, ridiculous and stupid.
Four days after her ABC appearance, Remini guested on the SiriusXM radio show of Howard Stern and says she understood why actress Kristie Alley, also a long-time member of the church, called her a bigot when Remini left Scientology in 2013.
Alley then said, "When you decide to blanket statement that 'Scientology is evil,' you are my enemy." The actress says she considers her word war with Alley past, she said she understood Alley's anger. Remini explains, "Hiding behind that veil is something that is per policy. They see me as an enemy."
As an enemy of Scientology, Remini says she is not surprised if the two, Alley and Cruise, would just ignore or walk past her when they cross paths in Hollywood events. If those chance encounters would happen, she expects the two, who are still active members of Scientology, to look away, walk away or go to another room to avoid being or interacting with a former church member.
However, there are rumors that Cruise is considering leaving Scientology for the sake of Suri, his daughter with Holmes who have both left the church.