Laura Prepon (Orange Is The New Black, That ’70s Show) recently announced that she’d left Scientology. She apparently did so five years ago and kept things quiet, which isn’t sitting well with Leah Remini, a very vocal ex-Scientologist (and second-generation member), who left the organization (which refers to itself as a church but many consider a cult) in 2013 and transformed into a vocal critic. She published a bestselling memoir, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology. She also hosted three seasons of the Emmy-award winning docuseries, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, for A&E. Leah then celebrated the downfall of Scientology-related coverups after the filming of rape charges against Danny Masterson (whose cases were allegedly buried for years) while declaring, “Scientology, your days of getting away with it [are] coming to an end!”
In contrast, Laura Prepon just kind-of left Scientology and didn’t say anything for years after the fact. That’s certainly her prerogative, but it doesn’t impress Leah, who’s keen to inform everyone about her opposition to the L. Ron Hubbard-founded organization, which has been the subject of many allegations of human rights violations.
Here’s what Leah said about Laura’s exit while speaking to Daily Blast Live, via US Weekly: “Some people, like Laura, feel they don’t have a responsibility to speak out“Do I respect it? I mean, not really.” Leah further elaborated:
“I got people into Scientology; I promoted it most of my life. For those of us who were in the public eye and who were speaking on behalf of Scientology, getting people into Scientology, I feel that we have a responsibility to do the work when we find out that none of those things we were doing was not only [not] helpful, but damaging and very harmful to people’s lives.”
Fair enough. Leah feels like the heavy-recruitment practices of Scientology, especially in the case of influential celebrities, bears some undoing, so to speak. She feels the need to spread the truth about reports of human rights violations, in order to discourage anyone else from falling into the organization’s clutches. And she’s calling out Laura for ducking out of Scientology and not really explaining why. Again, Laura’s free to say (or not say) anything that she wants about the organization, and Leah’s also free to react. You can listen to Leah’s full remarks on the subject below.
(Via Daily Blast Live & US Weekly)