It’s been nearly 12 years since Leah Remini left the Church of Scientology — a bold and very public break from an organization known for its secrecy and control. Since then, she’s worked hard to expose the practices of the controversial religion, including in her 2015 memoir, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology and her Emmy-winning A&E docuseries, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.
But even after more than a decade of speaking out, the actress says the Church still holds a powerful grip on some of Hollywood’s biggest names, many of whom continue to stay silent or benefit from the institution’s vast resources. At the top of that list, she says, is Tom Cruise, who remains the Church’s most prominent ambassador — and, according to Remini, its most protected. “Can you imagine Tom being in a normal world? Like, without Scientology doing his dirty work for him? No,” she tells Us Weekly of Mission: Impossible star, who maintains a close friendship with Church leader David Miscavige.
Remini claims Cruise has long relied on Scientology to protect his public image, with the organization going as far as to orchestrate his breakup with former girlfriend Nazanin Boniadi in the mid-2000s and suppress damaging media coverage. “He’s given enormous power,” she tells Us. “This is a man who has a multi-million-dollar organization using all its resources to stop a book being written about him.”
According to Remini, when her Aftermath cohost Mike Rinder, a former senior member of the Church, left in 2007, he took thousands of documents with him. Among those, she alleges, there were “hundreds” demonstrating how Cruise’s team worked to shut down news stories — even people planning to fly skywriting over a movie premiere. “They used all kinds of resources because they couldn’t risk Tom’s precious eyes seeing that,” she adds.
Cruise isn’t the only one, Remini alleges, who has benefitted from the Church’s protection. She points to disgraced actor Danny Masterson — who was sentenced in 2023 to 30 years to life for raping two women — as someone whose behavior was shaped by Scientology’s influence. “Scientology made Danny the way he is,” she says. “He was raised to believe that whatever he did, they would figure it out within the walls of Scientology.”
As for Masterson’s ex-wife Bijou Phillips, who Us previously reported had left the Church after his sentencing, Remini is skeptical. “She hasn’t spoken out because Scientology is probably providing her with a life,” she says of Phillips, who has been dating businessman Jamie Mazur since June 2024. “She divorced [Danny] to protect her assets — not to leave the Church.”
Remini also recalls an uncomfortable run-in with Orange Is the New Black actress Laura Prepon, who announced in 2021 that she had quietly stopped practicing Scientology five years earlier. “Poor Laura saw me at a party with Chelsea Handler and ran out,” Remini says. “It’s a high crime for Scientologists to speak to me. You can’t even be in the same room with me.”
Then there’s John Travolta, one of the Church’s most famous and loyal followers for decades. Remini believes his public association with Scientology has taken a toll. “I believe it’s hurt Tom and John — and rightfully so,” she says. “If they ever wanted a real life, to be who they really are, they’d have to leave the organization.”
In recent years, both Cruise and Travolta have been noticeably quieter about their beliefs, but Remini doesn’t think that signals a change of heart. “They’re being exposed for what they truly believe in,” she says. “And they realized, ‘We better shut up, or we’re not going to have careers.’ But that doesn’t mean they aren’t still in full agreement with what the Church does.”
Asked if she believes any of these celebrity members will ever walk away, Remini doesn’t sound hopeful. “I used to hope a lot of these people would leave,” she admits. “But I kind of feel like they need Scientology. I don’t know if they’d make it in the real world.”
When reached for comment, a representative for the Church of Scientology responded, “For years Ms. Remini has repeated ad nauseam unsupported and untrue allegations to monetize her hate campaign against the Church of Scientology.” (Us did not pay Remini for this interview.) “There has never existed a shred of evidence to support, let alone prove, any of her outlandish claims.”
