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Leah Remini Says Scientology Accused Her of 'Ruining' Tom Cruise's Wedding with Her 'Horrible Behavior'

"Basically I was being asked to recant what I said, to apologize for ruining the wedding of the century," Remini told 20/20

ABC Breaking News | Latest News Videos Leah Remini is opening up about her three decades in Scientology and why she decided to leave. Subscribe now for this exclusive interview full of explosive new details, only in PEOPLE!

Leah Remini says attending the wedding of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes ended up not being a fairytale for the Kings of Queens actress.

In a revealing new interview, the actress spoke with 20/20 about her new tell-all book , Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology , in which she discusses her separation from Scientology.

Remini, 45, said that the Church of Scientology invited her to Cruise’s 2006 wedding in Italy, and she was asked to invite her friend Jennifer Lopez and Lopez’s then-husband Marc Anthony. Remini claimed that during the three-day wedding, Church of Scientology officials attempted to separate her from Lopez.

“They were trying to extract me,” she said. “I can only assume because they wanted to make Jennifer a Scientologist. Maybe I was barring that road for them.”

Remini said she also caused a stir at the wedding by repeatedly asking church officials why Scientology leader Miscavige’s wife, Shelly, wasn’t with him.

“Shelly was always where David Miscavige was,” Remini said. “It was a wedding of the century it was like, ‘where s Shelly?'”

Shelly’s disappearance from public view has long caused controversy, though Scientology has repeatedly stated she isn’t missing and the L.A.P.D. ruled a 2014 missing-persons report filed by Remini “unfounded,” saying officers had met with Shelly. In a statement provided to ABC , the Church of Scientology criticized what it termed Remini’s “bizarre efforts to harass the Church of Scientology’s leader and his wife, whom Ms. Remini has been obsessed with for years.”

Remini says that upon returning home from the wedding, she was informed a number of wedding guests had filed reports with the church complaining about her behavior, saying she had been loud and rude.

According to Remini, the reports claimed she had “disrupted the wedding” and “basically destroyed the wedding.” She said she felt she was being reprimanded for her “horrible behavior.”

Earlier, Remini had written her own report to the church complaining about the wedding, saying Cruise and church head David Miscavige were damaging Scientology.

“Basically I was being asked to recant what I said, to apologize for ruining the wedding of the century,” Remini told 20/20 .

The church denied her claims, with a spokesperson telling ABC News, “Every claim Miss Remini has made is not only untrue but ridiculous and stupid.”

VIDEO: Former Scientologist Leah Remini Shows Support for Scientology Doc

In the 20/20 interview , Remini said Holmes was one of the people who filed a report with the Church of Scientology criticizing Remini’s wedding behavior.

In response to a request for comment from 20/20 , Holmes issued the following statement, which was provided to PEOPLE by her publicist :

“I regret having upset Leah in the past, and wish her only the best in the future,” Holmes said.

She did not comment to 20/20 about the alleged report against Remini.

Church International Spokesperson Karin Pouw previously told PEOPLE in a statement that Remini’s claims are an effort to drum up attention for herself.

“It comes as no surprise that someone as self-absorbed as Leah Remini with an insatiable craving for attention would exploit her former faith as a publicity stunt by rewriting her history with it, including omitting that she was participating in a program to remain a Scientologist by her own choice, as she was on the verge of being expelled for her ethical lapses,” Pouw said.

20/20 airs Fridays (10 p.m. ET) on ABC.

Related Articles

Leah Remini Spills 8 Shocking Claims About Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' Wedding

Leah Remini is not holding back with her claims about Scientology.

In her new tell-all book, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology , the actress and now ex-Scientologist presents a startling account of the ill-fated wedding of Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise, including shocking events she says occurred before, during, and after the big day, as well as a particularly disturbing claim regarding the treatment of the couple’s daughter, Suri.

Here are eight of the most shocking allegations from Leah’s book.

WATCH: Leah Remini Tears Up Talking About Katie Holmes Leaving Scientology: 'She Had to Protect Her Daughter'

1. Leah was allowed to meet Tom Cruise after donating $1 million to the International Association of Scientology. “The mere fact that I was fit to be in Tom’s presence was a huge compliment. The actor wasn’t just an A-list movie star but a pillar of the church,” Leah writes of her first encounter with the actor, whose entourage of “heavily contributing, with-the-program Scientologists” she would eventually join. Though, the actress says that neither Kirstie Alley nor John Travolta were a part of that group, because she claims “Tom didn’t like them.”

2. Leah’s first encounter with Katie Holmes was during a salsa dance lesson, which Tom had requested of her and her husband, Angelo. “I didn’t know Katie and Tom were dating, but I quickly got the picture since he couldn’t keep his hands off her,” she says, adding that she was uncomfortable with the way “he was manhandling Katie, dipping her in a forceful way and then making out with her.”

3. Tom liked to host celebrity-filled dinners and play games at his home. “I came to think of him as a big kid with his loud laugh, high energy, and goofy ideas of fun,” Leah writes. “Like when he invited some Scientologists and a few other celebrities like Will Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, to his house and announced he wanted to play hide-and-seek.” Though, Leah says she did not participate in the games because she was wearing five-inch Jimmy Choos.

4. Leah’s invite to Tom and Katie’s wedding came with a caveat: an invitation to bring Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony along. After revealing to the actress that the couple was planning to get married, Leah claims they asked if she would invite her high-profile friends. According to the King of Queens star, Katie admitted that they didn’t “know them that well” but seemed intent on changing that. While in Italy, Leah writes that TomKat asked Jennifer and Marc to go for a beachside walk with them, claiming that the newlyweds were insistent that they not leave the wedding reception early.

WATCH: Leah Remini Claims Church of Scientology Wanted to Recruit Jennifer Lopez

5. Tom and Katie’s star-studded wedding guest list included Brooke Shields. According to Leah, Brooke was on the same chartered plane as her and Angelo. Of course, Leah says Brooke was surprised by the invite because it came after she and Tom had famously gotten into a media fight over antidepressants.

6. Before the wedding, Suri was found crying on the bathroom floor. In one of the more shocking allegations in the book, Leah says that she came upon three women standing over Tom and Katie’s seven-month-old daughter in a restaurant bathroom. The actress writes that the women “were looking at her like they thought she was L. Ron Hubbard incarnate, and addressing her more like an adult than a baby.” In order to soothe the baby, Leah claims that she “grabbed the bottle from Suri’s diaper bag, went into the kitchen, asked someone to warm it up, which of course was no problem, and returned to the bathroom, where Suri was still on the floor and crying.”

WATCH: Leah Remini Says Scientologists Are Deemed 'Evil' If They're Critical of Tom Cruise

7. Katie kept Tom waiting a long time at the altar. Leah says that after Tom took his place at the front of the chapel, he stood there “for the next twenty minutes (but what seemed like an eternity)” with “that everything-is-great look plastered on his face even as the crowd grew uncomfortable." While Leah offers no explanation as to why Katie was late, she writes that, at one point, J.Lo asked her, "Do you think Katie is coming?"

8. Following the wedding, Leah was written up for poor behavior and forced to apologize to Katie. Leah claims the new bride accused her of “disrupting the party” and setting a “poor example to others." She then writes that to make amends for her supposed digressions, Leah sent expensive gifts to Katie and several of the guests. I spent $2,000 on framing the invitation and other mementos from the Cruise wedding in a picture box for Katie,” writes Leah, who claims she also included a note saying, “I’m so sorry that I destroyed your wedding,” to which Katie allegedly replied, “Just handle it with your MAA.”

WATCH: Katie Holmes Responds to Leah Remini’s Scientology Interview: I Regret Upsetting Her

The Church of Scientology released a statement to ET regarding Remini's recent claims in both her book and her recent interviews. The statement reads: "It comes as no surprise that someone as self-absorbed as Leah Remini with an insatiable craving for attention would exploit her former faith as a publicity stunt by rewriting her history with it, including omitting that she was participating in a program to remain a Scientologist by her own choice, as she was on the verge of being expelled for her ethical lapses."

While Leah has been promoting her book, Katie responded via her representatives last week, “I regret having upset Leah in the past and wish her only the best in the future."

Watch Leah’s emotional reaction to Katie’s response below.

Leah Remini Gets Emotional About Katie Holmes' Apology to Her

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Leah Remini claims she was held at Scientology facility for 4 months after Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes wedding — and 6 more lawsuit bombshells

Tom cruise isn't the only celebrity mentioned in remini's lawsuit against the church of scientology. here's why she referenced anderson cooper and conan o'brien..

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A lawsuit filed by Leah Remini on Wednesday against the Church of Scientology contains a number of disturbing allegations against the organization, its practices and high-ranking members.

Along with claims Remini's been “stalked, surveilled, harassed, threatened, intimidated” and is the victim of “intentional malicious and fraudulent rumors” on the internet, the 60-page document made multiple mentions of Tom Cruise as the actress says her life as a Scientologist changed after his 2006 wedding to Katie Holmes. Remini, who labels Cruise as “essentially second in command” in the church, is also suing leader, David Miscavige.

The Church of Scientology responded to Remini's lawsuit in a statement to Yahoo Entertainment Thursday, calling it "ludicrous" and "frivolous," characterizing her allegations as "pure lunacy."

"[Scientology] is not intimidated by Remini’s latest act of blatant harassment and attempt to prevent truthful free speech," the statement said. ( Read the complete statement .)

Here are the seven biggest bombshell's from Remini’s lawsuit.

1. Remini filed an internal report after TomKat's wedding — and it’s a “high crime” to “criticize” the actor “in any way”

Remini believes her status within the church changed after Cruise’s 2006 wedding to Katie Holmes. In the lawsuit, the actress refers to the Top Gun: Maverick star as Miscavige’s “best friend” who “is essentially second in command in Scientology.”

“It is a High Crime in Scientology to criticize [Tom] in any way,” the filing claims, noting that in 2004, Miscavige supposedly told an audience of Scientologists at a gala in England that Cruise was “the most dedicated Scientologist I know.” (Yahoo reached out to a rep for Cruise regarding the lawsuit, but did not immediately receive a response.)

The event was billed as “the wedding of the century,” so Remini says she was surprised when Miscavige’s wife, Michele ("Shelly") Miscavige, “was nowhere to be found.” Shelly’s “job was to constantly record everything” David said “so that a team of secretaries could later transcribe his words and orders for dissemination throughout Scientology.”

"When Ms. Remini asked a group of Scientology executives and Tom Cruise’s personal handlers ... ‘Where is Shelly?' she was immediately admonished by the group, despite the fact that she and Ms. Miscavige were good friends," the lawsuit claims.

"Ms. Remini witnessed other behavior at the wedding that set off red flags for her, including unethical contacts between various Scientology executives and others at the wedding which she understood to be forbidden by Scientology teachings," per the document.

Remini shared her concerns in a written “Knowledge Report” and it was submitted within the church — “Ms. Remini had been brainwashed into believing that by filing reports like this, she was helping Scientology and saving her religion” — and that apparently didn't go well.

2. Remini claims she was punished and held at a Scientology facility for 4 months after TomKat wedding

After Italy, Remini alleges she was ordered to go to Clearwater, Fla., to the Flag Land Base building (known as “FLAG”) which “is considered the spiritual headquarters of Scientology.” The actress claims she was forced to “undergo a quick ‘ethics cycle,’” which as a decades-long Scientologist, “was one of her life's worst nightmares.”

“Upon arrival, Ms. Remini was presented with dozens of internal reports from Scientologists complaining about her behavior at the wedding. It was clear to Ms. Remini that she was being punished for asking where Shelly Miscavige was and for filing reports on David Miscavige and others. Ms. Remini was held at FLAG for four months while she was put through a process that cost her hundreds of thousands of dollars and nearly led her to have a psychotic breakdown,” the lawsuit alleges.

“After months of psychological torture, Ms. Remini was nearing the point of psychotic breakdown. She finally gave in, rescinded all of her reports, and admitted that she was the problem in this situation (despite it not being true),” it continues.

Remini ultimately left FLAG and returned to L.A. “where she was forced to lie to her colleagues, friends, and family about what happened while she was in Florida.”

3. In order to make ‘amends’ to Cruise, Remini claims she donated money to Scientology causes

Remini alleges she had to make peace with David and Cruise. "For example, she was forced to donate money to name a seat in a theater after Suri Cruise and was to raise money for donation to Scientology causes led by Tom Cruise," the lawsuit reads.

The actress estimates that during her more than 35 years as a Scientologist, she spent around $5 million.

4. Remini alleges she was reprimanded for looking up rumors about Scientology online

Scientology's international base, Golden Era Productions, in Riverside County, Calif. was accused of horrific abuse in 2009. (The church has denied these claims.) "Remini endured another six months of punishment for looking on the Internet and asking questions about the abuse," the lawsuit alleges.

After her alleged punishment, Remini resigned from Scientology in 2013 and filed a missing persons report on Shelly, who has not been seen in public for 17 years.

5. CNN was allegedly harassed by members of the church and ultimately didn't run an interview with Remini

In 2015, Remini says she was supposed to promote her book Troublemaker on Anderson Cooper's show — but the interview didn't make it to air.

"Due to Scientology's history of aggressive litigiousness, the interview was pre-taped so that it could be vetted by CNN's legal department. Before the interview began, Mr. Cooper warned Ms. Remini that the interview might not air. Mr. Cooper told Ms. Remini that when he aired a five-part series on physical abuse being perpetrated by David Miscavige ( Scientology: A History of Violence ), he and his producers faced so many [Office of Special Affairs] attacks that they might not be willing to face a new storm of harassment," the lawsuit claims. “Since Cooper's series aired in 2010, he has never broadcast another story about Scientology. To this day, defendants continue to maintain attack websites against Mr. Cooper and his producers.”

CNN declined to comment when contacted by Yahoo.

6. Conan O’Brien purportedly stunned by Scientology tactics

In 2017, the actress appeared on Conan to promote her Emmy-winning A&E docuseries Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath . She claims the defendants were continuing "their campaign to harass and discredit her," so O'Brien was sent "a personal letter criticizing Ms. Remini and claiming that Remini was only speaking out against Scientology for the fame, money and attention."

"Mr. O'Brien commented that he has never before received a letter of this character in his 24 years of hosting late-night talk shows," the document claims.

Yahoo reached out to a rep for O'Brien, but did not immediately receive a response.

7. Remini alleges she was stalked by a mentally ill man who wanted to break into her home

The actress claims she’s been stalked, surveilled and harassed for years — and still is. She details a disturbing incident from 2020 in which she claims a man with “a history of mental illness and a violent criminal record” was often parked outside her home.

“Upon information and belief, provided by former top Scientology operatives, Defendants armed this man with a vehicle and money to stalk and surveil Ms. Remini. Over the course of several weeks, at Defendants' behest, this man rammed his car into the security gates of Ms. Remini's community and asked residents for Ms. Remini's address, saying he was waiting to get into her house, falsely claiming he had been there several times before, and that he needed to get a bigger ladder in order to reach her bedroom window," the lawsuit reads. "He was eventually arrested and then released, at which point he called the police to allege that Ms. Remini was holding hostages at her home. After police responded to Ms. Remini's house, he was again arrested."

Remini alleges Scientology operatives typically seek out “individuals with mental illness or who are homeless or addicted to drugs, and other vulnerable people in order to harass its enemies.”

“As recently as 2023, an unidentified male was recorded on video surveillance arriving at Ms. Remini's gated community in a vehicle armed with a hammer,” the document adds. “This unidentified man drove to Ms. Remini’s residence and smashed her mailbox, which she has to keep locked, to illegally seize Ms. Remini's personal mail. Police responding to Ms. Remini’s call surmised that he had been sent by Scientology and, upon information and belief, he was sent by Defendants.”

Editor's note: This story was originally published on Aug. 2, 2023, and has been updated with new information, including the statement from the Church of Scientology.

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What Leah Remini Revealed About Tom Cruise And Katie Holmes' Wedding

Leah Remini is one of the most outspoken celebrities in the entertainment world. Simply put, she's not the kind of person who would offer a "no comment" in regards to a hot topic, especially when it comes to sharing her own opinion about the matter. In an interview on "The Howard Stern Show" back in 2015, Remini put it this way, "I have a big mouth and I have a temper, so that's not good for people. That's not good for executives. That's not good for people in power. I think it's because I wasn't my best self there, I don't know how to conduct myself."

And while some people see that as both an advantage and disadvantage, Remini has also been very vocal about the world of Scientology and some of the things that might go on behind closed doors at the religion headquarters in Clearwater, Florida. If that weren't enough, she's also been sharing a lot of information about Scientology's favorite son Tom Cruise and some of the rather bizarre things that happened during his wedding to Katie Holmes in 2006. Here's what Remini has to say.

Leah Remini had to bring a few guests to Tom Cruise's wedding

Back in 2006, Leah Remini was still a member of the Church of Scientology, even though back then she already felt like she had one foot out the door, according to her book, "Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology." And like many other high-profiled names in the religion, Remini was invited to Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' star-studded wedding in Italy in 2006, but there was a catch. Remini could only attend if she could bring one of her best friends along: Jennifer Lopez and her then-husband, Marc Anthony. According to ET Online , Remini said that Holmes admitted she and Cruise "didn't know them well," but wanted to change that after the wedding. Lopez is not a Scientologist , although she does have a close family member that is.

If that weren't enough, Remini wrote in her book that Cruise and Holmes' daughter Suri Cruise, a toddler at the time, was found crying on the bathroom floor before the wedding. The "King of Queens" star wrote that many of the Scientologists at the dinner "were looking at her like they thought she was L. Ron Hubbard incarnate, and addressing her more like an adult than a baby." But that's not the only shocking thing that happened at Cruise and Holmes' wedding.

Leah Remini apologized to Katie Holmes post-wedding

In her book, Leah Remini says that Katie Holmes kept Tom Cruise waiting at the altar for quite a long time, with many speculating that she might have gotten cold feet. In perhaps a scene out of a bad rom-com, Remini said Cruise stood at the altar "for the next twenty minutes (but what seemed like an eternity)." Clearly, Holmes finally made her way down the aisle, but it was Remini who probably wished that she never attended the wedding in the first place. That's because she was later written up by Scientology church members for "disrupting the party" and apparently setting a "poor example to others" due to her behavior, as detailed by ET Online .

Remini says she sent a letter apologizing to Holmes, but she responded by saying, "Just handle it with your MAA," which stands for Master-at-Arms or the religion's supposed ethics police, according to Vulture . Needless to say, both women have since left Scientology and have not looked back. While Remini might have gotten reprimanded for the things she did and said during that wedding, to many of her fans, she sounds like the kind of wedding guest anyone would love to have at their party.

Leah Remini Had To Step In At Tom Cruise And Katie Holmes' Wedding After Nobody Was Addressing Suri's Moment Of Distress

When Leah Remini found Suri Cruise crying and ignored during Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' wedding, she intervened to comfort the infant.

• Leah Remini stepped in at Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' wedding when she saw that Suri, their daughter, was in distress and being ignored.
• Remini found other incidents at the wedding upsetting, including the strange request to invite Jennifer Lopez and her then-husband, and the fact that Holmes reported Remini's behavior to the Church of Scientology.
• Both Remini and Holmes have since left Scientology, with Holmes reportedly leaving to protect Suri from being raised in the religion.

Leah Remini found herself needing to step in at Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' wedding when she saw that nobody was addressing Suri when the infant was having a moment of distress.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes had a whirlwind romance, and months after dating, the two were engaged. The couple was delighted to announce that they were expecting their first child, and Tom Cruise even dropped $200,000 on a gift in anticipation of their daughter Suri Cruise's birth .

How Leah Remini Amassed Her $25 Million Net Worth Since 'The King of Queens' Ended

Nearly six years later, Cruise and Holmes stunned the world by announcing their divorce. Holmes reportedly left Cruise to protect her daughter from being raised in Scientology.

Leah Remini attended the couple's wedding, and while there, she noticed certain things which seemed strange, even upsetting. At one point, Remini stepped in when she noticed Suri Cruise was in distress and being ignored.

Leah Remini Had To Step In At Tom Cruise And Katie Holmes' Wedding After Nobody Addressed Suri's Moment Of Distress

When Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes wed, fans everywhere were thrilled. Nicknamed TomKat, they seemed happy when photographed together, either out for a stroll or at a star-studded event. Less than a year before they tied the knot, the Dawson's Creek star gave birth to their daughter, Suri Cruise.

At the couple's fairy-tale wedding, Leah Remini was one of several celebrities who attended. Remini wrote in her book, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology , that Cruise and Holmes' daughter, Suri, didn't seem to be getting the necessary attention from the people she needed the most - her parents.

Remini explained she'd attended a pre-wedding party, and that during dinner, she could hear a child crying, but nobody seemed worried about it. After a few minutes, Remini got up to follow the sound until she found Suri Cruise, who was seven months old, in distress. Suri was also being ignored .

Remini stated Cruise and Holmes' daughter, Suri, was upset. She was screaming and distressed, but instead of being comforted, the child was lying on the floor of the bathroom, and left alone. Remini added that instead of Holmes leaving the party to come and comfort her daughter, there were instead three handlers who were trying to hold Suri down.

She wrote that when the handlers finally gave attention to Suri, it didn't seem to help, and they didn't treat her in a way appropriate for Suri's age. "Rather than talking to her in a soothing voice, they kept saying, 'Suri! Suri! In a tone that sounded like they were telling an adult to get her s*** together," Per Radar Online .

Remini said the three handlers, one who was Cruise's sister, were simply standing and staring at Cruise and Holmes' daughter as though she was "[Scientology founder] L. Ron Hubbard incarnate." Remini said she encouraged the handlers to pick Suri up, hold her, and giver her a bottle of warm milk to calm and comfort Suri.

After Remini intervened to soothe Cruise and Holmes' daughter, Holmes filed a report against Remini with the Church of Scientology, complaining of her behavior during the wedding.

Leah Remini Found Other Incidents Upsetting At Tom Cruise And Katie Holmes' Wedding

Leah Remini has been speaking out against the Church of Scientology for years, and has discussed her experiences with Scientology in a variety of ways, including a documentary, Going Clear , and her book, Troublemaker. The actor also talks about her experiences in interviews and other ways.

Remini noticed certain things during Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' wedding which seemed strange and/or upsetting. When Remini heard a child crying, she followed the noise and came upon Suri Cruise, "crying on the floor," who'd been ignored until Remini intervened to help comfort the distressed child .

After the 2006 wedding, Holmes reported Remini to the Church of Scientology, claiming she had been disruptive at her and Cruise's wedding. Holmes reportedly wrote, "I was dismayed at the behavior of Leah Remini during the events leading up to our wedding. At the wedding, the behavior as a guest, a friend... [She] made everything all about her. It was very upsetting," according to the Daily Mail .

Remini also found Cruise's request to invite her friend Jennifer Lopez and the singer's then-husband Marc Anthony to the wedding odd. Holmes had admitted to Remini, "We don't know them very well." The star was confused why the couple wanted people who might as well be strangers at their wedding.

Are Leah Remini And Jennifer Lopez Still Friends Today?

She soon figured out the reason. Remini was told to recruit Lopez for the Church of Scientology - but J. Lo saw right through it . Remini said, "they wanted to make Jennifer a Scientologist."

After the wedding, Remini revealed Holmes had reported her to Scientology officials. The star called Holmes' behavior "childish" and said the report "looked like it was written by a seventh grader." Remini was also sent to a Scientology facility in Florida for "reprogramming."

"Basically they were just trying to get me to recant what I said, to apologize for ruining the wedding of the century."

Katie Holmes And Leah Remini Have Both Left Scientology

Leah Remini and Katie Holmes have both left Scientology. Holmes and Tom Cruise agreed to finalize their divorce settlement within days , both apparently wanting to avoid a lengthy court battle. Holmes initiated the divorce from Cruise , reportedly to protect Suri from Scientology.

Holmes might have worried that if Suri grew up in Scientology, she wouldn't have had a strong (or any) relationship with her daughter. Currently, Cruise does not have a relationship with Suri.

Remini couldn't believe the response she got when she asked Isabella and Connor about their relationship to their mother, Nicole Kidman . Isabella and Connor are Nicole Kidman's children with Tom Cruise. Both stayed with Cruise after he and Kidman divorced, and grew up in Scientology.

Leah Remini Revealed The Moment Katie Holmes Was Viewed As An Enemy By Scientology

Holmes apologized to Remini , years later, and said in a public statement, "I regret having upset Leah Remini in the past and wish her only the best in the future."

Remini, tearing up during an interview with Good Morning America, said, "Seeing her (Holmes) being able to be with her daughter, and live her life...I'm touched by it," according to Inside Edition .

Entertainment | Leah Remini forced to make amends to Tom Cruise…

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Entertainment | chilly storm front escorts rain, snow across the bay area, entertainment, entertainment | leah remini forced to make amends to tom cruise after katie holmes wedding: scientology lawsuit, remini said it has long been considered ‘a high crime in scientology’ to “criticize tom cruise in anyway’ and alleges she was ‘punished’ after being accused of upsetting his 2006 wedding to katie holmes.

In a new lawsuit alleging abusive practices by the Church of Scientology, Leah Remini has implicated Tom Cruise in the top rungs of power in the controversial organization, saying he was “essentially second in command” and describing how she was forced to apologize to him and donate money to his favorite Scientology causes after she was accused of upsetting his 2006 wedding to Katie Holmes by asking about the whereabouts of leader David Miscavige’s wife.

Remini also alleged that she had to make amends to Cruise by donating money in honor of his daughter, Suri Cruise. The “King of Queens” actor said it has long been considered “a High Crime in Scientology to criticize (Tom) in any way,” while noting that Miscavige told an audience of Scientologists at a 2004 gala in England that Cruise was “the most dedicated Scientologist I know.”

Remini, who has emerged as one of Scientology’s leading critics since leaving the organization in 2013, filed her 60-page complaint against the Church of Scientology and Miscavige Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. She alleges she suffered years of harassment, intimidation and defamation as part of an organized campaign of retaliation because she has exposed alleged church abuses, starting with her 2015 memoir, “Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology” and in her Emmy-winning A&E docuseries, “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.”

“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,” Remini said in a news release she shared on Substack, CNN reported . “I believe I am not the first person targeted by Scientology and its operations, but I intend to be the last.”

In a statement, the Church of Scientology blasted Remini’s lawsuit as “ludicrous” and “frivolous” and said her allegations as “pure lunacy.”

“Remini spreads hate and falsehoods for a decade and is now offended when people exercise their right to free speech, exposing her for what she is — an anti-free speech bigot,” the statement said. The organization also said her “obsession with attacking her former religion, by spreading falsehoods and hate speech, has generated threats of and actual violence against the church and its members.”

“All the while … she has profited handsomely from her fabrications, through the sale of hate books, hate podcasts and paid-for tabloid hate television,” the statement continued.

Remini’s lawsuit contains multiple mentions of Cruise, who has long been one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars but who also has became the most famous public face of Scientology. Remini joined Scientology as a child and also became a prominent celebrity member, but she said her status in the church changed after Cruise’s lavish 2006 wedding to Holmes, his third wife.

The event in an Italian castle was billed as “the wedding of the century,” which is why Remini said in her lawsuit that she was surprised that Miscavige’s wife, Michele “Shelly” Miscavige, was “was nowhere to be found.” Shelly Miscavige was assistant to her husband, the “chairman of the board” and her “job was to constantly record everything” he said “so that a team of secretaries could later transcribe his words and orders for dissemination throughout Scientology.”

“When Ms. Remini asked a group of Scientology executives and Tom Cruise’s personal handlers … ‘Where is Shelly?’ she was immediately admonished by the group, despite the fact that she and Ms. Miscavige were good friends,” the lawsuit said.

Remini said she also witnessed other behavior at the wedding that “set off red flags for her, including unethical contacts between various Scientology executives and others at the wedding which she understood to be forbidden by Scientology teachings,” the lawsuit said. In accordance with Scientology practices, which Remini “had been brainwashed” into following, she shared her concerns in a written “Knowledge Report” that she submitted to the church.

But apparently, church executives didn’t like what she wrote. Remini alleges she was ordered to report to the the church’s “spiritual headquarters” in Clearwater, Florida, where she was confronted with “dozens of internal reports from Scientologists complaining about her behavior at the wedding,” the lawsuit said. It “became clear” to Remini that she was being punished for asking where Shelly Miscavige was and for filing reports on David Miscavige and others.”

Remini alleges she was forced to stay at the headquarters, where she had to “undergo” four months of “ethics” training, which she said cost her hundreds of thousands and dollars and which she described as “one of her life’s worst nightmares.”

Remini ultimately left the left headquarters and returned to Los Angeles, but she said she “was forced to lie to her colleagues, friends, and family about what happened while she was in Florida.”

To regain her standing in the church, Remini said she had to make peace with David and Cruise. But to do that, she said “she was forced to donate money to name a seat in a theater after Suri Cruise and was forced to raise money for donation to Scientology causes led by Tom Cruise,” the lawsuit said.

The Church of Scientology is widely known for its associations with Hollywood celebrities, including Cruise, John Travolta and Elisabeth Moss. But it has faced growing scrutiny in recent years amid allegations of physical, sexual and financial abuse made by former members. Some of those allegations were made in Remini’s docuseries, while others were exposed in HBO’s 2015 documentary, “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief,” based on a book by Lawrence Wright.

In its statement, the church suggested that Remini is spreading “propaganda” because she can’t work in Hollywood. If she can’t get work, she has “nobody to blame but herself.”

“While Remini was in the church, she had to restrain her antisocial traits,” the statement said. “She said so herself—that Scientology was the only thing keeping her ‘monster’ at bay. The church is not intimidated by Remini’s latest act of blatant harassment and attempt to prevent truthful free speech. If Remini does not believe in free speech, then she should consider emigrating to Russia.”

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Leah Remini Details Scientology's Role at Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' Wedding in  20/20 Interview

By Joe Reid

Outspoken ex-Scientologist Leah Remini didn’t mince words in naming Tom Cruise and Scientology chairman David Miscavige as the two biggest reasons for her disillusionment with her old church, but she says one of their biggest problems with her may have had something to do with her good friend Jennifer Lopez . She says that, while attending Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes ’ Italian wedding in 2006, she was kept separate from Lopez and her then-husband Mark Anthony , placed in separate cars and seated at separate tables.  
 “I can only assume because they wanted to make Jennifer a Scientologist,” she told ABC’s Dan Harris. “Maybe I was barring that road for them?”  
 The actress's interview with Harris aired Friday ahead of the Tuesday publication of her memoir,  Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology . Remini was quite upfront about where her problems with the Church of Scientology began. “I now see where the cracks are in our church,” she said of her mindset after the Cruise-Holmes wedding. “It’s David Miscavige, it’s Tom Cruise, they were bringing Scientology down.” 
 Remini, who left Scientology in 2013 and has since been very public about her problems with the church, told ABC that what began as raised eyebrows towards Cruise’s behavior put her in the crosshairs of church officials. After Cruise’s couch-jumping appearance on Oprah in 2005, Remini recalls saying, “What the hell is this guy doing? We need to rein it in, we need to stop all this, and he just need to be an actor, and he needs to just [closed-mouth gesture]. I was immediately dealt with.” 
 Remini has previously credited Lopez with helping her separate from the church. She [told Access Hollywood in July] (http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop-shop/6620427/jennifer-lopez-leah-remini-support-leaving-scientology) that Lopez was instrumental in helping her get into the mindset to leave the institution that had shaped her beliefs since childhood. 
 For its part, the Church of Scientology gave a statement to ABC that said Remini’s accusations against the church are “not only untrue but ridiculous and stupid.”

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Leah remini soured on scientology after tom cruise-katie holmes wedding.

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Remini, shown hugging Cruise at a 2004 premiere of "Collateral," said that, "being critical of Tom Cruise is being critical of Scientology itself. You are a person who is anti the aims and goals of Scientology. You are evil."

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Remini said Cruise serenaded his new bride with the song, "You've Lost That Loving Feeling," echoing the famous scene from his movie "Top Gun."

Leah Remini, who joined the upstart religion along with her mother and sister when she was only a teen, spoke out about her public split with the church during a "20/20" interview Friday.

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Scientology leader David Miscavige, pictured with Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes in 2008.

Actress Leah Remini says Tom Cruise’s 2006 wedding was when she “lost that loving feeling” with her three decade relationship with Scientology.

Remini, who joined the upstart religion along with her mother and sister when she was only a teen, spoke out about her public split with the church during a “20/20” interview Friday.

The “King of Queens” actress said that, “being critical of Tom Cruise is being critical of Scientology itself. You are a person who is anti the aims and goals of Scientology. You are evil.”

The 45-year-old said that she was initially charmed by her fellow celebrity Scientologist and his legendary intensity.

“At first it’s very effusive,” she explained. “It’s very loving and you get the laser in on you and you’re the most important thing. It’s like, ‘How are you? How you doing?’ and ‘Yeah, great! Great! Great-great! Great!’

Remini’s standing in the church skyrocketed as her career took off and she said she spent millions taking courses and learning about the group’s cosmic theology.

But it was Cruise’s 2006 wedding to Katie Holmes when things took a turn.

Remini said Cruise serenaded his new bride with the song, “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling,” echoing the famous scene from his movie “Top Gun.”

“We’re like, ‘that’s an interesting song to sing to your bride,” Remini told “20/20.”

The Bensonhurst-born actress openly questioned the absence church leader of David Miscavige’s wife and what she claimed was the church’s attempt to recruit her friends Jennifer Lopez and Mark Anthony.

“I thought, ‘I now see where the cracks are in our Church, and it’s David Miscavige, it’s Tom Cruise,'” Remini said. “They were bringing down Scientology.”

But church leaders, and allegedly Holmes, claimed that Remini had “basically destroyed the wedding.”

Scientology officials told ABC News in a statement that in regards to Cruise’s wedding, every claim Remini has made is not only untrue but “ridiculous and stupid.”

“20/20” also received a statement from Holmes, who divorced Cruise in 2012.

Holmes, who declined to be interviewed, said, “I regret having upset Leah in the past and wish her only the best in the future.”

Remini broke with the church in 2013 after ratcheting up her criticism of the organization for alleged abuses and corrupt practices.

The “Dancing with the Stars” alum’s book “Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology” comes out on November 3.

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Leah Remini on Her Break With the Church of Scientology

Leah Remini spoke for the first time in an exclusive interview with ABC News "20/20" about what her life was like inside the Church of Scientology, as well as how Tom Cruise and the backlash she faced from the Church after his 2006 wedding to Katie Holmes were factors in her breaking with the Church.

The former "King of Queens" star, who publicly severed ties with the Church in 2013, is the most high-profile celebrity to leave Scientology and go public with her criticisms. She spoke with "20/20" about her new memoir, "Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology," and why she is no longer a member of the Church she served for 30 years.

"I know what my former Church-- how they deal with people who tell their story," Remini told "20/20." "And so I wanted to be the one to say it."

This week, members of the Church of Scientology delivered multiple documents and emails and made numerous phone calls to ABC News containing highly critical statements about Leah Remini, calling her a liar, "self-absorbed, rude and embarrassing," and saying she is attempting to "rewrite the truth" in order to sell her new book. Read the Church's full statement to ABC News regarding the interview HERE.

This is her side of the story:

How Leah Remini Became Involved in the Church of Scientology

Leah Remini grew up in the tight-knit Italian neighborhood of Bensonhurst in Brooklyn, New York.

"I always felt like I was kind of an outsider because I didn't have the right things," Remini said. "I didn't have a Cadillac. I didn't have, you know, plastic on my furniture. That was the right way to be, if you were Italian."

Her parents divorced when she was 7 years old. Her mother Vicki Marshall, searching for meaning, became deeply involved in Scientology, the religion founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard.

Vicki worked in the Scientology building in Times Square and said her understanding of Scientology's goal is "to free mankind, to make a sane world." She said she believed that she was "benefiting the planet" by working for the Church and that it would help her children in the long run.

"What was told to me ... [ was ] look at what you're doing for the world, this is more important than... your family," Vicki said.

Eventually Vicki decided to bring her daughters, Leah and her older sister Nicole, into the Church. The girls began studying Hubbard's teachings and learning Scientology's unique terminology.

As a kid, this was a big deal, Remini said, because "Scientologists view children as spiritual beings."

"You are not treated as a kid, so you are given a lot of responsibility," she continued. "Your ego becomes extremely inflated."

Leah Remini Joins The Sea Org as a Young Teen

When Remini was a teenager, her mother decided to enroll her and her sister in the Sea Org, the pious, uniformed, full-time religious order of the Church, and moved the family to the Church's spiritual headquarters in Clearwater, Florida, known as the Flag Land Base.

Mike Rinder, who was once the spokesman for the Church of Scientology, is no longer a member and is now a very public critic of the Church. He said Sea Org members "are the people who have dedicated their entire lives to Scientology, who live in communal Church facilities, eat in Church facilities."

In statements to ABC News, the Church decries Rinder as a liar, "a bitter former member" and a "professional anti-Scientologist."

Scientologists believe in reincarnation and Sea Org members are expected to keep working every time they come back. Remini said, "They provide room and board and you work there and you sign a billion-year contract."

Both sisters said they were housed in a run-down former motel with "roach-infested" dorms they shared with other children. Leah Remini said she had to perform long hours of serious labor.

"It could go from working in a laundry room to working industrial sanders," Remini said.

For Remini, joining the Sea Org meant leaving traditional school in eighth grade and immersing herself in Scientology study. "It's more your education in Scientology is pressed upon... you're learning how to learn Scientology," she said.

But Remini said there were other things that prevented her rise in the Sea Org ranks.

"I would try to start a mutiny because I felt we deserved better rooms," she said.

Things came to a head, Remini said, when she and her sister were brought up on ethics charges for their involvement with boys. It was a serious violation, and Remini said Church ethics officers threatened to put both of them into the "Rehabilitation Project Force," a place for Scientologists who step out of line.

"When you have screwed up royally in the Sea Org, it's basically to reform you," she said. "You have to wear black. You have to run everywhere you go. You have to call everyone 'sir.' ... So it's pretty severe punishment for an adult, not to mention a child."

When Remini's mother Vicki heard about this, she said she decided to pull the girls out of Sea Org.

The Church told ABC News in a statement that children are no longer admitted into the Sea Org, but that Remini was "dismissed ... for her inability to maintain the ethical standards related to fraternization," and that she petitioned to stay but failed. The Church added that when Remini was a member, the living conditions at the Clearwater facility conformed to Florida state health codes.

Either way, the sisters' billion-year contracts with Sea Org were over.

Leah Remini's Family Moves to Hollywood and Remains Active Scientologists

After a disastrous tour of duty in the Sea Org, Remini and her family moved to East Hollywood in the mid-'80s. Despite what happened, her mother decided to keep the family deeply involved in Scientology.

"There was a big Scientology community there," she said. "We slept on someone's floor... we had nothing... we had a few bags of clothes."

Leah Remini threw herself into the practice and study of Scientology, known in the Church as "moving up the Bridge to Total Freedom," which she said, "it promotes that you're getting to high levels of awareness as a spiritual being."

"Moving up the Bridge" involves taking a series of courses and also participating in "auditing" sessions, a sort of counseling that employs a device known as an E-Meter. The process promises to release negative emotions.

Back in the mid-'80s, Remini said she was going through these types of sessions almost daily, which she had to pay for out of pocket. Between auditing, courses, and materials, she said that she spent "thousands and thousands, hundreds of thousands [ of dollars ] " over the course of her Scientology career.

Needing money, Remini said she started waitressing and doing secretarial work, but then turned to acting and comedy, in which Remini said her experience in Scientology played an important role.

"There's tools that are... very helpful... to you in your life, to you as an actor," she said. "I walked into a room where some people might feel, you know, cower in front of a casting director, I wasn't."

Leah Remini Gets Her Big Break

Remini said she had an excruciating year trying to land acting gigs. She got a lead role on the 1989 TV show, "Living Dolls," but the show was canceled after one season. Over the ensuing years, Remini did hundreds of auditions and landed many small guest roles on TV shows, such as "Saved By The Bell," "Cheers" and "NYPD Blue." She even scored some leading roles in a few sitcoms, such as "Fired Up," and the Church was taking notice. Remini was featured on the cover of Scientology's official Celebrity magazine.

During this time, Remini met the love of her life, Angelo Pagan, one night when he was singing in a Cuban nightclub in Los Angeles. Pagan fell so hard for Remini that he got into Scientology and eventually left his wife to be with Remini.

"Had she been into Kabbalah or Buddhist, I would have done anything," Pagan said. "Muslim? Hey, give me the Koran, let's go. Baby, if it's working for you, I'm in."

Through Pagan, Remini became friends with Jennifer Lopez and her then-husband, Mark Anthony. Shortly thereafter, Remini got the call that would change her career -- she had landed the lead role of Carrie Heffernan in a new TV show called "The King of Queens."

How Leah Remini Met Tom Cruise

The success of "The King of Queens" gave Remini fame, money and she says an increased prominence in the Church of Scientology.

Ex-Scientologist Mike Rinder said celebrities are treated "very differently" inside the Church "depending on how prominent they are."

"The Leah Reminis and the Kirstie Alley and the John Travolta and then ultimately to the Tom Cruise, it's a very different world that those people live in, a very different Scientology world," Rinder said.

Remini was appearing in Scientology videos by at least 1997 and eventually she said she was rubbing shoulders with David Miscavige, the powerful head of the Church, and his wife, Shelly Miscavige.

"He [ David Miscavige ] is very, you know, charismatic," Remini said. "He's very powerful... he's likable."

Remini and Pagan were married in 2003 and the couple welcomed a daughter the following year, although Remini admits that she deviated from L. Ron Hubbard's expressed preference for drug-free births.

"I got that epidural as quickly as possible," Remini said. "I was going to attempt to do it, you know, for my Church... But you know, when you start feeling a baby coming out of your vagina, I could have-- if there was a rock I would have hit myself over the head with it."

That same year, Remini said she made an important friend through the Church -- the world's most famous Scientologist, Tom Cruise, who declined to comment for this report. Meeting Cruise, Remini said, "at first it's very effusive, it's very loving."

"You get the laser in on your and you're the most important thing that ever happened," she continued. "It's, 'what are you doing?' and 'how are you doing?' and 'yeah, great, great, great, great, great.'"

Remini said the exposure to Cruise opened her eyes to his vast influence within the Church, an influence she says was exemplified by a call she received one night from a Church official, who she said told her that Cruise wanted her to come over and teach him salsa dancing.

When she arrived, Remini said two high-ranking Scientology officials were there with Cruise and Katie Holmes, his new girlfriend at the time.

"He was like forcibly kissing Katie and I said, 'hey, get a fricking room,'" Remini said. "And well, I was written up for that, and I had to go into session for it."

Remini said one of the Church officials there that night reported her comment to the Church. It's common practice, she said, for Church members to regularly write what are called "Knowledge Reports" on one another for breaking rules. Remini said the accused then have to answer to the allegations in auditing sessions.

"You can assume if you say something that is critical to the Church, you will be written up," Remini said. "Husband, wife, mother, daughter, it's what the group does to regulate itself."

Remini admits to writing Knowledge Reports herself frequently, including on her own husband. "I wrote Angelo up all the time," she said.

After that, she said she continued to spend time with Cruise but didn't hesitate to speak up when she thought he was damaging the Church in the public view, including in 2005 when Cruise criticized Brooke Shields for using antidepressants and he argued with Matt Lauer about psychiatry during an on-air interview, as well as when he jumped on Oprah's couch during a widely discussed television appearance in 2006.

"I'm saying, 'I don't think he's becoming of a Scientologist, jumping on couches, and attacking Matt Lauer... and attacking Brooke Shields,'" Remini said. "Like... 'What the hell is this guy doing?' ... we need to rein it in, we need to stop all this, and he just needs to be an actor."

But after she spoke out about Cruise's actions, Remini said she "was immediately dealt with," saying she was taught that "the only reason you're saying these things is because you have your own transgressions."

"So you then become guilty," she continued. "So being critical of Tom Cruise is being critical of Scientology itself. ... You are a person who is anti-the aims and goals of Scientology. You are evil."

Remini said she was increasingly dismayed by the fawning attention Church officials heaped upon Cruise, who was extremely close with David Miscavige.

"I would refer to him even in my own sessions, I was like, 'you're doing this for a frigging actor?'" Remini said. "It was so beneath what was truly important. He's just an actor."

Leah Remini Attends Tom Cruise's 2006 Wedding to Katie Holmes

In 2006, Remini received an invitation to Tom Cruise's wedding to Katie Holmes, but she says it came with the request that she bring her friends, Jennifer Lopez and Mark Anthony.

"The Church was really the one who invited them," she said. "On Tom's behalf."

They agreed to attend and in her memoir, Remini writes a lot of color about the wedding, including the moment when she said Cruise serenaded his new bride with the song, "You've Lost That Loving Feeling," echoing that famous moment from his movie "Top Gun."

"We're like, 'that's an interesting song to sing to your bride," Remini told "20/20."

The wedding would become a pivotal point in Remini's relationship with the Church. At the wedding, where David Miscavige served as Cruise's best man, Remini said she became annoyed by what she saw as ham-handed attempts by the Church to separate her from Lopez by having them travel in separate vehicles and sit at different tables.

"They were always trying to extract me," she said. "I could only assume because they wanted to make Jennifer a Scientologist and maybe I was barring that road for them."

But what really bothered her at the wedding, Remini said, was that Miscavige was there without his wife, Shelly.

"Shelly was always where David Miscavige was," Remini said. "It was a wedding of the century... it was like, 'where's Shelly?"

"There's a Sea Org member sitting next to me from David Miscavige's office and I'd go, 'where's Shelly?'" she continued. "It's such a simple thing. It's a big wedding that the leader of the Church is here and his wife isn't. It's getting weirder because you're making it weirder."

The Church told ABC News in a statement that in regards to Cruise's wedding, every claim Remini has made is not only untrue but "ridiculous and stupid."

But Remini said she left the wedding on what she calls a mission to save Scientology, writing a Knowledge Report complaining about Church members at the wedding.

"I thought, 'I now see where the cracks are in our Church, and it's David Miscavige, it's Tom Cruise.'" Remini said. "They were bringing down Scientology."

To her dismay, Remini said she learned that numerous Scientologists had filed reports on her for being loud, late and rude, upgrading her hotel room and switching seats at the reception. In short, Remini said, they were claiming that she had "basically destroyed the wedding."

Remini showed "20/20" a document that she claimed was a Knowledge Report from Katie Holmes.

"It starts with, 'I was dismayed at the behavior of Leah Remini during the events leading up to our wedding ... At the wedding, the behavior as a guest, a friend ... was very upsetting,'" Remini said, reading the document.

Remini said she was sent to the Sea Org facility in Clearwater, Florida, for what she calls "reprogramming."

"I was in an auditing room," she said. "Basically they were just trying to get me to recant what I said, to apologize for ruining the wedding of the century."

In response, the Church told ABC News in a statement that "Ms. Remini voluntarily went to the Church to receive religious services. Her characterizations are another example of revisionist history."

Even after all that, Remini said she wasn't ready to leave the Church at the time, because she said leaving means "giving up everything you have ever known and everything you have worked for your whole life." She was also worried about having to leave her family behind. So, Remini said, "I said everything they needed to say, and once I did that, I was free to go home."

Leah Remini Starts to Question Staying in the Church

After the wedding, Remini resumed her life as an active Scientologist. She continued taking Church courses and doing her auditing sessions, while "The King of Queens" ended its run in May 2007 after nine seasons and 207 episodes.

Later, Remini said she wrote a letter to David Miscavige, apologizing for "acting like a complete idiot at the wedding" and "I admire you for all you have done."

But in her mind, Remini said the seeds of doubt had been growing, not just about the organization but also about its cosmic theology.

One example she said was when she reached a key level of Scientology's "Bridge to Total Freedom," or "Operating Thetan 3," she was at a point where she said key Church secrets about the history of the universe are revealed. In one document written by Church founder L. Ron Hubbard, he tells a story about an intergalactic warlord named Xenu.

"It was some galactic confederation," Remini said. "There was a war and there was a volcano and they bodied, you know, they took the spirits of people and they encased them into something, into a volcano, blew them up and then those spirits are now inside of you, on you, in you, like you are made up of these things."

When she read that, Remini said she thought, "this is some crazy s***." Again, she said she wasn't ready at that time to walk away from the Church.

In a statement to ABC News, the Church would not talk about their advanced scriptures, but said that "it is not unusual for a religion to have confidential scriptures and practices," adding that "the vast majority of Scientology Scripture is widely available to the general public and can be read and studied by anyone. A very small portion that deals with the most advanced levels of spiritual counseling is restricted to those parishioners who have attained the prior levels of spiritual awareness."

While Remini struggled privately with her faith, she said she continued a cordial friendship with Tom Cruise and exchanged friendly notes, including one in which he thanked her "for being such a great Scientologist."

But in 2012, Katie Holmes publicly left Tom Cruise, and Remini said she felt vindicated.

"Yeah, I said, 'Where's my apology? ... Do I get an apology from Tom, from David Miscavige? ... do I get and validation from the Church?'" she said.

Just this week, Katie Holmes, who declined to be interviewed for this report, gave a statement to ABC News in which she neither confirmed nor denied writing that Knowledge Report about Remini but said, "I regret having upset Leah in the past and wish her only the best in the future."

When told about Holmes' statement, Remini told ABC News that she was "touched by it."

How Leah Remini Eventually Decided to Break With The Church of Scientology

Remini said the Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes divorce re-ignited a lot of her old anger about her grueling counseling sessions in Florida and about all of the money she says she had spent on the Church for auditing, courses and materials. She also showed "20/20" trophies she said she received for giving more than $1 million to Scientology charities.

As her frustration mounted, she said she decided to commit a serious infraction in Scientology -- she went online and began reading comments from critics of the Church.

Remini said she saw the reports of families who said they were torn apart by the Church's practice of "disconnection" -- the shunning of ex-members by their friends and relatives still in the Church -- and allegations by former top officials who say they were punched or slapped by David Miscavige.

"I was heartbroken for myself, for my family," Remini said. "I didn't want these things to be true."

Scientology has adamantly denied that Miscavige physically stuck anyone.

Remini herself had long dismissed Church critics, but then, in an abrupt about face, she reached out to Mike Rinder, a man the Church views as one of its arch enemies.

"I mean, talking to me is like, you know, sleeping with the devil," Rinder said.

By this point, Remini said she was becoming more and more assertive about Shelly Miscavige, whom she said she still couldn't locate or contact. She said she demanded Church officials deliver a note from her to Shelly.

"I started to say enough and I said where is Shelly? Where is Shelly? Over and over again and I wasn't getting an answer," Remini said.

The situation came to a head, Remini said, when the Church sent two high-ranking Scientology officials to her house, a visit that turning into an argument, and almost much more, when Remini's husband Angelo Pagan said one of the officials called her "a bitch."

"I grabbed him by the collar, yes," Pagan said.

After that, Remini said she was finally ready to leave the Church. The Church told ABC News in a statement that Remini was expelled for ethical lapses, and claims she tried to stay, which Remini denies.

Either way, Remini was very concerned her family would "disconnect" from her.

"I'm ready to walk away from everybody that I've ever known and cut ties with my own husband, my own mother, because you don't know what they're going to decide," Remini said. "Very often, my experience is people choose the Church."

The Church told ABC News that disconnection is voluntary and "designed to help members remove themselves from abusive and hostile relationships."

But to Remini's relief, her mother Vicki and the rest of her family supported her decision and left the Church with her. The fact that her family came with her, "means everything," Remini said.

Where Things Stand with Leah Remini Today

Leah Remini went public with her separation from the Church in summer 2013.

The Church's initial public response to her departure was subdued, but then Remini filed a missing person's report on Shelly Miscaviage, who she said hasn't been seen in public since August 2007.

The Los Angeles Police Department investigated the claims but told ABC News they "met with the alleged missing person" and "we consider the case closed." The Church attacked Remini's filing of the report as a "publicity stunt."

The open warfare between Remini and the Church escalated when Remini went on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" in Sept. 2013, and danced to Katy Perry's "Roar," a song she said she chose to send a message.

Celebrity Scientologist Kirstie Alley went on Howard Stern's radio show in Dec. 2013 and bashed Remini, calling her a "bigot" and saying, "when you decide to blanket statement that Scientology is evil, you are my enemy."

Remini said she understood Alley's remarks.

"Anybody who criticizes the Church is-- to cry that everybody's a bigot towards their religion and this is religious bigotry ... I was in the same position, I said similar things about people like me," Remini said.

Just this week, as Remini guest hosted "Dancing With the Stars," and ABC News prepared to broadcast its interview, the Church of Scientology ramped up its criticism. In one statement to ABC News, the Church said Leah Remini's "repeated ethical lapses and callous treatment of others led to an ecclesiastical review which resulted in her being expelled. She now regurgitates the tired myths the Church has repeatedly debunked, circulated by the same tiny clique of expelled former staffers bitter at having lost the positions they enjoyed before their malfeasance and unethical conduct were uncovered." Read the Church's full statement to ABC News regarding the interview HERE.

"I agree with them, I wish I too could get over 30 years of this quickly," Remini said. "Unfortunately it's going to take some time... [ but ] that's not a shining endorsement for the Church of Scientology to say that I'm deeply flawed after 30 years of reaching the upper levels of the Church."

When asked if she would rather see the Church disappear or just change, Remini said it was a "hard thing" to grapple with.

"I know a lot of them have been in for a long time and I know they're good people," she said. "It's the policies of the Church ... It's the parishioners that have the power. It's the parishioners that actually could effect change by just not subscribing to it."

Two years out of the Church, Remini said her life is now better than ever and that the ordeal has reinforced the bonds within her family, bonds on display during their reality show on TLC, "It's All Relative," where the departure from Scientology is frequent fodder for discussion.

"At the end, I mean I don't regret what I've been through," Remini said. "I don't regret spending my life there, because it really did teach me a lot ... and because we've all survived it, we're all surviving it and living life and it's kind of like we have a gift of second chance of life."

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How Tom Cruise’s Wedding to Katie Holmes Changed Scientology Forever

The moment that turned the tide.

Marlow Stern

Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast

Even by Hollywood standards it was an opulent affair, with millions splashed on a 15th-century castle, crystal-laden Armani dresses, and a performance by crooner Andrea Bocelli ; the guest list, meanwhile, was a paparazzo’s dream, boasting the likes of Will and Jada, Posh and Becks, J. Lo, and scores more. But Tom Cruise’s 2006 Italian wedding to Katie Holmes will be remembered for another reason entirely, according to Mike Rinder.  

“It was a very significant moment in the history of Scientology, because it changed a lot of the media focus about Scientology,” offered Rinder on Scientology and the Aftermath .

Rinder would know. For 25 years, the Aussie served as a senior executive for the Church of Scientology and its fraternal religious order, Sea Organization , as well as the executive director of its Office of Special Affairs (OSA), which oversees the church’s myriad legal tussles, public relations, and internal investigations into members’ behavior . He left the controversial religion in 2007 due to, he says, the abusive practices of leader David Miscavige , and now co-hosts A&E’s Aftermath alongside another ex-Scientologist, Leah Remini.

But back to those star-studded nuptials. While Cruise had already raised plenty of eyebrows with his Matt Lauer mano a mano and couch-jumping on Oprah , the wedding was his big Scientology coming-out party—a traditional Scientology ceremony conducted by minister Norman Starkey, the executor of its late founder L. Ron Hubbard’s estate, with Miscavige serving as best man. And it was there that Remini, who was still a member of the church at the time, began questioning the church’s officials over the whereabouts of Miscavige’s wife Shelly , who was nowhere to be found. Remini is alleged to have received a tongue-lashing at the event from Tommy Davis, a Scientology executive who acted as Cruise’s personal handler.

“I mean, look at that famous quote from Tommy Davis to Leah [Remini] about Shelly at the Cruise wedding, ‘You don’t have the fucking rank to ask about this.’ They believe the world doesn’t have the fucking rank to ask about this; that nobody has the fucking rank to ask about this,” Rinder tells me. “It’s an interesting look at the mindset of Scientologists, and how out of touch with reality they are. They’ve lost touch with the world.”

Remini left Scientology in 2013, and has since become the face of Scientology whistleblowing. Things got worse for Cruise in Jan. 2008, when Gawker published a leaked version of his Scientology indoctrination video where the actor claimed, among other things, that Scientologists are the only ones who can help people who get in car accidents. Then came Going Clear , detailing the church’s alleged efforts to break up Cruise and Nicole Kidman , the Vanity Fair exposé about the church’s wife-auditioning for Cruise prior to arriving at Holmes, Remini’s allegation that Cruise personally punished fellow Scientologists , etc. And still, Cruise has somehow remained an A-list Hollywood star, with his recent blockbuster Mission: Impossible – Fallout grossing nearly $800 million worldwide, and the actor currently shooting a hotly-anticipated sequel to Top Gun . Rinder feels that the press is complicit.

“If you go on a movie press junket with Cruise you are required not to ask about Scientology, and a lot of journalists participate anyway. This is a really sad indictment of the Fourth Estate,” says Rinder.

He adds, “I still think that too many media do treat Scientology with kid gloves, and too many media are operating on the old view of the ‘power’ of Scientology to threaten and intimidate them. To a large extent, the threats and intimidation have increasingly been demonstrated to just be a bunch of hot air. It’s become a part of the routine to expect a legal letter if you do anything about Scientology, but Scientology hasn’t sued the media since TIME magazine back in 1992. And they lost that case.” (Cruise did not respond to requests for comment for this story; the Church of Scientology, through their spokesperson, called Rinder’s claims “false,” branded him a “liar,” and accused me of “religious prejudice and bias.”)

Cruise’s camp would argue that it’s unfair to delve into someone’s religious beliefs—except the actor, Rinder explains, “ used the fact that he was a movie star to promote Scientology for years.”

In addition to the indoctrination video, made in honor of Cruise receiving the Freedom Medal of Valor from Miscavige for being the world’s biggest disseminator of Scientology, there was the time he infamously erected Scientology tents on the set of Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds , attempting to convert cast and crew members to the controversial religion.

“He had a volunteer ministers’ tent on War of the Worlds . It’s totally crazy,” says Rinder, who was still a high-ranking Scientology exec at the time. “You know, you can’t for years be the biggest proselytizer of Scientology because you’re a movie star, and even do it on the set of movies, and whenever you’re being interviewed about a movie you have to pop in something about L. Ron Hubbard or Scientology, and when it becomes a bit more inconvenient and prickly, and the subject matter isn’t what you want it to be, to go, ‘You’re not allowed to ask anymore,’ is wildly hypocritical.”

On top of all that, Rinder echoes Remini’s claim that Cruise is aware of the alleged abuses within the Church of Scientology, including the Hole .

“He is very aware,” Rinder says. “In fact, David Miscavige used to tell people when he was displeased with people in the Hole—and I was there when he said this—‘If you motherfuckers don’t get your shit together, I’m going to bring Tom down here and I’m going to have him beat you up.’ Tom is an insider . He is privy to all the bullshit that Miscavige has been up to. And many people outside of the Sea Organization are not, but he is because they are like two peas in a pod.”

Cruise, of course, is not the only celebrity who’s a prominent member of the Church of Scientology. There’s John Travolta , Danny Masterson , Elisabeth Moss, Michael Peña, Juliette Lewis, Laura Prepon, Kirstie Alley, Beck, Giovanni Ribisi, Greta Van Susteren, and more. And this is apparently by design.

“Miscavige has always viewed—and so did Hubbard—celebrities as being the most effective way of gaining acceptability for Scientology and encouraging new people to get interested and participate. And of course the larger the celebrity, the greater the impact. For a time, Tom Cruise was the biggest movie star in the world, and the ultimate manifestation of that philosophy,” claims Rinder. “Cruise came along during the Miscavige era, he was his first major accomplishment, and Cruise has a very similar personality type to Miscavige—just over-the-top about everything, so Miscavige saw him as the perfect vehicle to be molded into the perfect representative for Scientology.”

Rinder chuckles. “So, it is very ironic that the Big Fish became the Big Stinking Fish, because that wedding—and the fallout from that wedding—changed everything.”

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Leah Remini Says Tom Cruise's Creepy Wedding Turned Her Off Scientology

Actress and Scientology defector Leah Remini did not have the kindest words for former brother-in-Xenu Tom Cruise during an interview with ABC's 20/20 last night. Remini, whose tell-all memoir Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology comes out Tuesday, said that she started getting reprimanded by church authorities after she challenged Cruise and behaved badly at his 2006 wedding to Katie Holmes.

The NY Daily News writes that during the wedding, Cruise essentially reenacted a scene from Top Gun by serenading his bride with the song "You've Lost That Loving Feeling." Remini said, "We're like, 'that’s an interesting song to sing to your bride.'" According to People , Remini said that numerous Church members filed a "Knowledge Report" alleging that she was "loud, late and rude." Remini said she was accused of having "basically destroyed the wedding."

Predictably, a spokesperson from the Church of Scientology told ABC News that Remini's claims about the wedding were bogus. "Every claim Miss Remini has made is not only untrue but ridiculous and stupid." Sure, okay!

Remini also said that "being critical of Tom Cruise is being critical of Scientology itself. You are a person who is anti the aims and goals of Scientology. You are evil." But it wasn't always like that. Remini said that when she first met Cruise, she was sucked in by his effusive personality, of which she said, "At first it’s very effusive. It’s very loving and you get the laser in on you and you’re the most important thing. It’s like, 'How are you? How you doing?' and 'Yeah, great! Great! Great-great! Great!'

Holmes declined to be interviewed for the 20/20 piece, but issued a statement that said, "I regret having upset Leah in the past and wish her only the best in the future."

She also dished about her personal history with Scientology. After her parents divorced, Remini's mother enlisted her in the Sea Org, a full-time religious indoctrination program where she signed a billion-year long contract with the church. Ha ha...ha...uh. During her year in Sea Org, where she lived in "roach infested dorms," Remini got in trouble for fraternizing with teen Scientology boys. The Hollywood Reporter wrote:

"I allowed my boyfriend at the time … to go like this over my shirt,” she said while lighting touching her breast over her shirt. Remini remarked the action was a church violation and she was threatened to be put in the rehabilitation project force. “When you have screwed up royally in the Sea Org, it’s basically to reform you. You have to wear black, you have to run everywhere you go, you have to call everyone sir. It’s pretty severe punishment for an adult, not to mention a child,” Remini said.

There are many more juicy stories from the interview, which are likely only a sliver of what will emerge when Troublemaker hits stores on Tuesday.

Thank you for listening. Thank you all for your loving support of this journey. And to @ABC2020 for telling this story. — Leah Remini (@LeahRemini) October 31, 2015

Leah Remini on Being Friends Tom Cruise, His Wedding to Katie Holmes: Part 3

At the wedding, remini said david miscavige was cruise's best man and was there without his wife shelly., october 31, 2015, what’s next for russia, what comes next after texas school shooting, what's next for abortion rights in america, the new battle for voting rights, how we can build a clean and renewable future, the fight for kyiv, examining extremism in the military, gun violence: an american epidemic, border crisis: what’s happening at the us-mexico border, remembering george floyd: a year of protest, the source of covid-19: what we know, how did the gamestop stock spike on wall street happen, why are people hesitant to trust a covid-19 vaccine, how climate change and forest management make wildfires harder to contain, disparity in police response: black lives matter protests and capitol riot, 2020 in review: a year unlike any other, examined: how putin keeps power, why don’t the electoral college and popular vote always match up, us crosses 250,000 coronavirus deaths, 2nd impeachment trial: what this could mean for trump, presidential transition of power: examined, how donald trump spent his last days as president, how joe biden's inauguration will be different from previous years, belarus’ ongoing protests: examined, trump challenges the vote and takes legal action, 2020’s dnc and rnc are different than any before, what is happening with the usps, voting in 2020 during covid-19, disinformation in 2020, abc news specials on, impact x nightline: on the brink, impact x nightline: unboxing shein, the lady bird diaries, impact x nightline: it's britney, impact x nightline: natalee holloway -- a killer confesses, impact x nightline: who shot tupac, impact x nightline, power trip: those who seek power and those who chase them, the murders before the marathon, the ivana trump story: the first wife, mormon no more, leave no trace: a hidden history of the boy scouts, keeper of the ashes: the oklahoma girl scout murders, the orphans of covid: america's hidden toll, superstar: patrick swayze, the kardashians -- an abc news special, 24 months that changed the world, have you seen this man.

Leah Remini Says Suri Cruise Was Left on the Bathroom Floor Before Her Parents' Wedding

And things just get crazier from there.

Leah Remini is telling all about growing up in the Church of Scientology in a new memoir , and so far, she's spilled details about Tom Cruise , Katie Holmes , and the bizarre world of being a child in the secretive organization. The New York Daily News obtained a copy of the book before it hits stores, and things get even crazier. 

Remini writes that she heard a crying baby while she was at a fancy dinner before Cruise and Holmes' wedding, and after five minutes, she decided to figure out where it was coming from. She found a 7-month-old Suri Cruise in a bathroom, where she was laying on the floor. Three women, including Cruise's sister and his assistant, were apparently just looking at her like she was "[Scientology founder] L. Ron Hubbard incarnate." Remini says she eventually convinced them to give her some milk.

During the actual wedding, Remini claims Holmes left Cruise waiting at the altar for 20 minutes, and then they both snubbed her on the reception line. Later on, she says she saw a prominent Scientologist "humping Brooke Shields" on the dance floor.

And according to Remini, there was drama with Cruise's other children, too. She says she got a ride to the airport with Bella and Connor, Cruise's adopted kids with ex-wife Nicole Kidman. When Remini asked if they had seen their mom lately, Bella apparently retorted, "Not if I have a choice. Our mom is a f—ing SP." SP stands for Suppressive Person , a person considered an enemy of Scientology and cut off from their loved ones in the church. Remini herself was named a Suppressive Person a few years ago. 

The Church of Scientology responded to that claim with a statement : "We have never heard Ms. Remini's claim and do not believe it. The Church and Ms. Kidman have responded in the past to false claims that there was anything wrong with Ms. Cruise's relationship with her mother." 

Remini told ABC News that Holmes later filed an official complaint against Remini for rude behavior that she claimed ruined her wedding. The behavior may have included asking where church leader David Miscavige's missing wife, Shelly, was. Holmes' complaint apparently led to a six-figure fine, and Remini was forced to apologize personally to several guests. Holmes responded to 20/20 with a brief statement: "I regret having upset Leah in the past, and wish her only the best in the future." 

Of course, the church completely discredits Remini's accounts, calling them "not only untrue, but ridiculous and stupid." In a statement , the church continued trashing her, saying, "as a note, every guest but Ms. Remini respected the couple's privacy by not speaking about it afterward. That in itself describes what kind of person Ms. Remini is: self-absorbed, rude and embarrassing, all traits she displayed as a guest of this event according to parishioners who attended."

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All the Weird Tom Cruise Stories From Leah Remini’s Book About Scientology

Photo by YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images

This article originally appeared in  Vulture .

Leah Remini, the queen of Queens, has written a barn-burner. Her book Troublemaker , which came out Tuesday, is a tell-all from inside the Church of Scientology, an experience that cost her millions of dollars and years of anguish, and eventually resulted in her getting labeled an “SP”—a Suppressive Person—by the Church. As with Alex Gibney’s documentary Going Clear , you cannot talk about Scientology without talking about its most famous member, Tom Cruise. Remini’s book covers a lot of ground about the actor, from the first time she met him and was invited to play hide-and-seek at his house with Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith, to his high-profile wedding to Katie Holmes in Rome, where she was reprimanded and had to be “reprogrammed.”

Her first interaction with Tom Cruise was “magical.”

Tom Cruise is kind of a big deal in the world, and he’s an even bigger deal in the Church of Scientology. Whenever Cruise entered the Celebrity Centre, the entire building was locked down. Normally, Remini had to wait in the courtyard or waiting room until he was done, but on one particular day, she was told by a handler, “I just want you to know that Mr. Cruise is here, but it’s fine for you to walk through.” They eventually met, and she said that they had a “brief but pleasant conversation,” and that he had a “magical quality” that makes you feel like you’re the only person in the world. This apparently was enough to approve her to become a part of Tom’s entourage, which included EarthLink founder Sky Dayton, Marisol Nichols, Ethan Suplee, and Jenna and Bodhi Elfman. She writes, “Noticeably absent from the chosen few were Kirstie Alley and John Travolta. I had heard that Tom didn’t like them.”

She was invited to play hide-and-seek at his house with Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith.

“At first I thought he was joking, but no, he literally wanted to play hide-and-seek with a bunch of grown-ups in what was probably close to a 7,000-square-foot house on almost three full acres of secluded land,” she writes. She told him, sensibly, “I can’t play—I’m wearing Jimmy Choos.” He replied, “Well, good. So you’re It, then,” and then tagged her and ran to hide. She pulled her husband aside and said, “Angelo, you’re going to go ahead and do this, because I’m not doing it. I’m not trying to play a fucking game of hide-and-seek in five-inch stilettos. Okay?”

There was an incident with cookie dough.

Remini writes that people were “terrified of offending Tom.” Once, he wanted to make cookies, and there was a package of prepackaged cookie dough on the counter. He asked, “Guys, where’s the cookie stuff?” The assistants fluttered around but they didn’t point out to him that it was right there on the counter. “Tom seemed like a child who had never been told no,” Remini observes. “Get in the fucking present time, is what you need to do!” he screamed at his assistant. He then gave a rundown of the hierarchy:

Still not noticing the log of pre-made dough on the counter, Tom raised his hand above his head. “LRH [L. Ron Hubbard] is here,” he said, then lowered his hand to his chin and said, “And Dave and I are here.” Then, with his hand down at his waist, he said, “And you are here.”

This painful scene mercifully ended when Remini nonchalantly said, “Oh wait. Tom, is this it?”

Tom and Katie invited her to their wedding and then asked her to invite Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony.

After inviting Leah and her husband to his impending nuptials with Katie Holmes, he then asked her to invite her friends Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony. Little did she realize that it would really become all about J.Lo and Marc.

Their Rome wedding was “official church business.”

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’s wedding was constantly being monitored by two Scientology members, Tommy Davis and Jessica Feshbach. The leader of the Scientologists, David Miscavige, acted like Cruise’s best man. And yet, Remini was seeing a lot of behavior that didn’t accord to Scientology rules. Norman Starkey, who officiated, got “handsy” with Brooke Shields, while Jessica and Tommy were flirting, even though she was married.

Someone left Suri Cruise crying on the bathroom floor during the wedding.

During the first dinner, she heard Suri Cruise crying from the direction of the bathroom, and yet, “Katie didn’t seem to notice.” She then went to the bathroom to investigate the situation:

After about five minutes I headed to the bathroom to offer some help. When I opened the door, I found three women, including Tom’s sister and his assistant, standing over the baby, who was lying on the tile floor. I didn’t know if they were changing her diaper or what, but the three women were looking at her like they thought she was L. Ron Hubbard incarnate. Rather than talking to her in a soothing voice, they kept saying, “Suri! Suri!” in a tone that sounded like they were telling an adult to get her shit together.

She told them, “What are you guys doing? She’s a baby. Pick her up!” She then took control of the situation and got Suri’s bottle and asked someone to heat it up in the kitchen. When she returned, though, Suri was still on the floor crying. Finally, they picked her up and gave her the bottle, which stopped the crying. “Then Tom’s sister turned to me and said, ‘Thank you,’ as if I were being dismissed.”

She was put on notice during the wedding for hanging out with Jennifer Lopez.

Throughout the wedding, the Scientology handlers kept trying to separate Lopez from Remini, who had come as her friend. They wanted them to arrive to the ceremony separately even though they were getting ready together. When it came time for the rehearsal dinner, the church team tried to separate them again, but Lopez said, “She’s with us,” which made them leave her alone. That Jennifer Lopez voucher goes a long way!

Tom Cruise sang “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” to Katie Holmes.

The couple would go on to divorce in 2012.

Bella and Connor Cruise don’t talk to their mom, Nicole Kidman, because she’s “a fucking SP.”

Remini was going back to the airport with Bella and Connor Cruise, the kids Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman adopted when the pair was married. When Remini asked them about their mom, Bella replied, “Not if I have a choice. Our mom is a fucking SP.” An SP, you’ll remember, is a Suppressive Person, which is basically Scientology lingo for scum. She observed: 

Connor just looked out the window. There was something more human about his silence and the sadness I felt in it. My heart broke for him, his sister, and their mother as we rode the rest of the way to the airport without saying another word.

Katie Holmes wrote a “Knowledge Report” saying Remini’s behavior at her wedding “disturbed [her] greatly.”

Get ready for a lot of Scientology jargon ahead. A Knowledge Report is basically an official snitching document. It’s what you write to keep other people in line, if and when you see that what they’re doing isn’t in accordance with Scientology rules. Holmes did so after the wedding, saying that Remini had been “very upsetting” and was a “poor example to others.” A number of other Scientology members submitted such Knowledge Reports against Remini after the wedding.

Afterward, Remini had to then submit to a “Truth Rundown” where an “Ethics Officer” does an “auditing” session with you by examining each Knowledge Report. If you say that you saw someone high-ranking like Tom Cruise being an asshole, you then have to say what “overt” (sin, basically) you committed before Tom committed his, and so on. She writes:

The Truth Rundown worked; I started to crack. I begged [the auditor] to stop, and when that didn’t work, I looked into the camera in the wall of the auditing room and directly at the person watching the sessions. “This is not LRH,” I pleaded. “You are destroying my and your own faith.”

Remini endured weeks and weeks of 12 hours a day in auditing, until she “retracted almost everything.” She said that she was the source of the problems at the wedding, and then had to make up for her wrongdoing with a number of gifts and donations, including a gift basket with a letter of apology to J.J. Abrams, whom she was told was upset by her behavior at the wedding.

For Holmes, she spent $2,000 on framing the invitation and other mementos from the wedding for a picture box with a note that read, “I’m so sorry that I destroyed your wedding.” Katie simply responded with a text: “Just handle it with your MAA.” (A MAA is a Master-at-Arms, who oversees ethics at the church.)

Best wedding ever?

See also: 7 Fun Non-Scientology Stories in Leah Remini’s Book

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Leah remini says scientology forced her to raise money for tom and suri cruise as punishment.

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Leah Remini was ordered to raise money for Tom Cruise’s pet causes as part of her punishment for displeasing Scientology leaders, the actress claims in new court documents .

Remini — who is suing the church for defamation — claims in the court declaration that she was made to “raise money for Scientology causes led by Tom Cruise ” after questioning the whereabouts of Shelly Miscavige, the wife of church leader David Miscavige who has not been seen in public in 2007.

Additionally, Remini, who was involved in Scientology from 1979 to 2013, alleges in the latest court filing that she was “forced to donate money to name a seat in a Scientology auditorium after Suri Cruise.”

The declaration, first reported by   Tony Ortega of The Underground Bunker, was submitted in response to the church’s legal attempts to have Remini’s lawsuit, filed in August, tossed out of court.

“This lawsuit is ludicrous and allegations are pure lunacy,” a Scientology spokeswoman told The Post of Remini’s lawsuit and follow-up declaration. “The Church is not intimidated by Remini’s latest act of blatant harassment and attempt to prevent truthful free speech.”

A representative for Cruise did not reply to a request for comment.

Remini, who is suing the church for unspecified damages, claims the transgression that led to her alleged punishment began while she was attending Cruise and Katie Holmes’ $2.5 million wedding in 2006 at a castle in Bracciano, Italy.

Within Scientology, the ceremony was billed as the “Wedding of the Century,” according to the declaration. As a result, Remini was “shocked to discover” that Michelle “Shelly” Miscavige, the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige, was not there.

Concerned, she asked highly placed church members, including Cruise’s personal handlers, “Where is Shelly?” — only to be “immediately admonished by the group” for asking the question, court papers state.

(Last year, the LAPD issued a statement saying: In 2014, Los Angeles Police Department detectives assigned to the Missing Persons Unit (MPU) went to Shelly Miscavige’s location and personally made contact with her and her attorney. Detectives found her to be alive and safe, and subsequently closed the missing persons investigation.)

The “King of Queens” actress claims she later filed internal church reports about what she alleges to have been “unethical contacts between various Scientology executives and others at the wedding” that Remini “understood to be forbidden by Scientology teachings.”

Upon returning to Los Angeles from the wedding, the declaration states, Remini claims she was “ordered to go to Florida, to the Flag Land Base Building” — the spiritual headquarters of Scientology.

There, according to court papers, Remini allegedly underwent a “Truth Rundown, described as “a form of psychological torture meant to rewrite the target’s memories.”

She claims to have been held at FLAG for four months and to have endured “psychological torture [that] continued hour after hour, day after day, for months.” Eventually she “rescinded” the reports and took responsibility for “being the problem.”

Remini left Scientology in 2013 and became publicly critical of the church. In 2015, she authored a book, “ Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology .” Soon after leaving, Remini claims in the court document, “I filed a missing person report on Shelly Miscavige with the LAPD.”

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