Scientology Members Target Leah Remini's A&E Documentary Program
Members of the Church of Scientology are coming down hard on Leah Remini and her Emmy-winning series "Scientology and the Aftermath" on A&E. They launched a campaign to convince the documentary program's advertisers to stop supporting the show.
Letters and emails from the group called the Scientologists Taking Action Against Discrimination (STAND) were sent to ad buyers of "Scientology and the Aftermath" in the last few months. According to The Wall Street Journal, Anheuser-Busch, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and Geico were among the advertisers that received the letters that cited Remini's show as a hate campaign against Scientology.
"Its first season alone generated more than 400 incidents of harassment, threats of violence and vandalism against our churches and members," the letter read. "The threat level has again risen, precisely coincident with A&E's promotion and airing of the second season of this show, now spawning even more threats—bombings, murder and acts of physical violence."
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Remini remains unperturbed despite the show potentially losing income from STAND's move. She also shot back at trolls on Twitter who attack her show with biases, especially after the airing of the most recent episode about how Scientology leaders abuse children.
The troll claimed Remini's subjects were drugged before they spoke in front of the cameras. The TV star, however, turned the tables on the troll who had no basis for his claims.
Meanwhile, A&E has yet to renew "Scientology and the Aftermath" for season 3. Remini, however, has already mapped out some ideas about what's coming up next season. It might include a change in the show's title because she might pursue a different subject matter: Jehovah's Witnesses.
"I'm open to doing a season 3 in a different way," she told Entertainment Weekly. "We've been getting an overwhelming amount of emails and people contacting us through [social media] about other cults that are similar [to Scientology], so I'm looking into that."
Leah Remini's "Scientology and the Aftermath" airs every Tuesday nights at 10:00 EST on A&E.
