Actress Leah Remini on Monday revealed that she has had to fight fear, depression, and anxiety on a daily basis since fleeing the Church of Scientology in 2013, opening up about the impact of the organization’s alleged attempts to “undermine and destabilize” her on her mental and physical health in a lengthy social media post.
“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,” Remini wrote in the X post. “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.”
“I have to fight this in myself every day,” she continued. “The process starts all over again from the moment I wake up; I want to get out; I want to experience so many things, including the mundane, and most days, I don’t.”
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Remini, 53, attributed her struggle directly to the “Scientology operatives and agents” who have allegedly stalked, surveilled, and harassed her since her departure from the church over a decade ago. She claimed those tactics—reportedly known as “fair game” in the Scientology community—have isolated and endangered her, as well as her family, friends, and colleagues.
Most disturbingly, Remini alleged that the church had hired “vulnerable people living with severe mental illness” as pawns in its harassment campaign. “Among the many things they’ve done is break into my gated community,” she said.
The actress, who has published a book and produced an Emmy Award-winning documentary series about her experiences inside the church, has been repeatedly denounced by Scientologists for her vocal criticism of its practices and alleged abuses. Last August, she sued the church for harassment and emotional distress. “For 17 years, Scientology and David Miscavige have subjected me to what I believe to be psychological torture, defamation, surveillance, harassment, and intimidation, significantly impacting my life and career,” she said in a social media statement at the time. “I believe I am not the first person targeted by Scientology and its operations, but I intend to be the last.”
In an amended complaint filed the next month, Remini said the church’s attacks against her and her friends had since “escalated to a much greater degree than ever before.” In response, the church slammed her allegations as “pure lunacy” and “propaganda.”
“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 church said in a lengthy statement, adding that it was unintimidated by her “blatant harassment and attempt to prevent truthful free speech.”
Remini said Monday that she’d been prompted to share more about her journey because she has recently been doing “something unfamiliar and uncomfortable”: saying “yes” to opportunities that involve leaving her home.
“This is a big deal for me because, in recent years, I have said ‘no’ to a lot, from invitations to go out with friends to attending events and traveling,” she explained, going on to say that she liked to publicly celebrate doing “mundane” things on her social media accounts because of her depression “and very warranted fears of being hunted.”
Remini also wrote about her hopes that her post could make others struggling with issues similar to hers feel seen and understood. “I often feel very alone in experiencing it,” she said, “and in writing about this and sharing it publicly, I hope to feel less isolated and hope that I can make some of you feel the same.”
