Leah Remini Talks Jennifer Lopez’s Support After Leaving Scientology

Leah Remini’s decision to leave Scientology came with the loss of many close relationships, but longtime friend Jennifer Lopez was a constant support.

The “Leah Remini: It’s All Relative” star visited Access Hollywood Live on Tuesday, where she opened about her public, headline-making 2013 departure from the church that severed many ties to many friends and some family members.

Leah Remini on Access Hollywood Live on July 7, 2015 (Access Hollywood)

On leaving the Church of Scientology: “It’s very difficult. It’s not just if you leave, it’s if you leave publicly… you can leave, but if you make any public statements about your experience or talk about your experience that’s when the label comes of a suppressive person. There’s many layers to it, you lose your friends.”

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On how longtime friend Jennifer Lopez supported her: “She is an amazing friend… she’s just never disappointed me… [she’s been] supportive of my decisions… she said to me, ‘You know Leah, you don’t have to give everything up. Like it’s OK to look at it like there were some things about it that was helpful and just leave the rest. So don’t throw it all away and think your life was wasted.’ And I thought that was a beautiful thing to say. It just allowed me to breathe for a minute. She’s just been supportive in an amazing way.”

On why she publicly left the church: “There’s a lot people who have left [Scientology] who have been hurt and affected and I can’t just sit around and – I couldn’t just – I needed to send a message of this is what I’m doing and I have to make a public statement about it or I’m not just taking a stand for anything. So I just didn’t want those people to feel alone.”

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On how she’s coping post-Scientology: “I don’t know that it’s an easy thing to get over in your life and I’m doing things to med those wounds. It’s been my whole like, so you have to make modifications, I’ve been going to therapy and reading a lot and I think it’s all part of my path.”

“Leah Remini: It’s All Relative” Season 2 premieres on July 15 at 9/8c on TLC.

— Jesse Spero

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