Leah Remini has earned a 2017 Emmy nomination for her high-profile Scientology series 'Scientology and the Aftermath'.
After 34 years of devotion, Remini left the Church of Scientology in a highly publicized departure in 2013. Now, nearly four years after her exit, Remini is continuing to earn recognition for her plight.
Remini launched the unscripted series late last year, detailing the threats she received from the church ahead of the series' launch that still continue today.She confessed that everyone on her team told her not to do the show.
"They want me to be an actress. They want me to do what I love to do," "Acting is something that I love to do, but this is my passion. They don't want me to be known as someone who does a show about Scientology, but what am I going to do? Not do it?"
The series ranked as cable's top unscripted series among total viewers for 2016.The series has been renewed for a 10-episode second season, with a premiere date yet to be announced. A&E Network also aired a two-hour special after the finale of the six-episode first season, Merchants of Fear, in May.
If the Church of Scientology challenged and attempted to de-legitimize Remini in her making of the series, one can only imagine the response from the Church upon learning that the series had been nominated for an Emmy, casting it further into the spotlight.
For Remini, this recognition is “huge.”
“The show is inspired by Amy Scobee and her mother Bonny, who told her story from her hospice bed, and her wish was that we were able to stop Scientology and its disconnection policy from hurting families,” Remini shares. “I think we’ve done her a service, because people are now not thinking that Scientology is something to be looked at. It’s not something to make fun of and walk away from.”
She continues, “It is actually hurtful and damaging, and I’m grateful that our peers have taken a look at this show and seen the bravery of these people speaking out, because there are repercussions to their actions. It’s made me happy that voters are seeing the truth behind Scientology propaganda, and they have taken it in by even nominating us.”
