For A&E, Leah Remini’s second season can’t end early enough as the ratings continue to tumble, proving viewers can only take so much hate and bigotry from subjects whose phony tales were never vetted.
Appropriately, A&E ends with another “Ask Me Anything” snooze fest with Remini and her deadwood co-host/wife beater Mike Rinder pretending to answer spontaneous questions that, like every other element of the show, were dishonestly scripted. As always, the aim is to stroke Remini’s fragile ego while ignoring that her entire show was a cynical exercise in peddling hate for money. She stated that fact on ABC 20/20: “I don’t work for free.”
Given every question is a softball, here are some actual questions A&E, Remini and Rinder would be forced to tackle if they really were asked “anything”:
How does Leah Remini justify that she is in bed with homophobes, bigots and racists?
Her co-producer’s hero is a blatant homophobe. Remini and Mike Rinder courted a Southern pastor, a good buddy of Rinder, to set up a “town hall meeting” to spread hate against Scientologists. The pastor has demonstrated his contempt for virtually anyone who is not a member of his faith: he is anti-Muslim, anti-Scientologist and vehemently anti-LGBTQ. He even tried to incite his parishioners against Scientologists using a violent Biblical metaphor: “Someone has to pick up a rock and a slingshot and trust God with the results.” Yet before being shut down by higher-ups due to the horrific PR ramifications, Remini insisted he should be used to advance her anti-Scientology agenda. See the video. www.leahreminiaftermath.com/ antilgbt.
How can Leah Remini sanctimoniously coach people on screen to cry and make up stories about their families when her biological father explains on YouTube Remini’s cruelty toward her own family?
George Remini reveals Leah would not provide care for her father, her sister or other family members—including some who approached the Church because they are so upset with what Remini is saying. See the videos:
- Video of George Remini: George speaks of Leah abandoning him in his time of need. www.leahreminiaftermath.com/abandonedherfather.
- Video of George as well as Leah’s stepmother, Dana Remini, revealing she does not attend family funerals. www.leahreminiaftermath.com/georgeremini.
- Article in which Donna Fiore, Leah’s former stepmother of 28 years, reveals Leah put her through a “nightmare” during the death of Leah’s sister, describing Leah as a diva, “liar” and “mean.” A cousin also claims Remini is “lying about family and her beliefs on national TV”. www.leahreminiaftermath.com/family.
How come Remini covers up that she is coaching subjects to embellish their stories and that her subjects are offered payments, whether directly, in-kind or quid pro quo?
Listen to the video recording of a call from a whistleblower exposing the play-acting that runs throughout Remini’s bigoted program.
The recording describes Leah Remini as encouraging former members to embellish their stories and to lie to make their tales more “shocking”:
- “She kept telling them that it needed to be more dramatic…they needed to make it sound as bad as possible.”
- “She kept stopping and telling them to up the ante.”
- “She was telling the husband you really need to start crying at a certain point.”
- “I asked, at one point during a break, my friend if she was really OK with it. She said yes and that they were RECEIVING A PAYMENT FOR THE INTERVIEW.”
Why doesn’t Remini admit that her show is scripted and acted?
Remini’s sought-after “dream team” member who was the “kingpin” of the small group of anti-Scientologists that are her subjects, Mark (Marty) Rathbun, exposes the dishonesty of the series. i) He exposes she stage-managed her “roll out” (departure from the Church) to help her career. ii) He also reveals that she offered Rathbun a producer credit and that he could “write my own ticket” and be paid for participating as a subject on her show. iii) He further reveals that Remini explained how her reality TV shows are scripted and quotes Remini’s shocking admission: “Listen, that’s how it works, honey, doll, that’s how you do it. It’s not reality. I work it out, I plan out all these episodes and we figure it out beforehand who’s going to say what…”
Did Leah Remini realize what a faux pas she did when she tipped her hand by making the bombshell admission that there was no vetting of subjects on her show, and that A&E’s legal department was happy to let her get away with it?
What Remini copped to in this unguarded moment of candor during a Hollywood Reporter roundtable was what the Church has always been saying—none of Remini’s sources were vetted to corroborate their allegations. Remini was asked, “Leah, I want to turn to you. How much vetting is done of the people who are going to tell their stories on your show? Is that something…do you have people who make them prove their stories? Remini: “What do you want me to do? ‘Prove it to me’? You know? So there is NO VETTING. I just take their word for it.” Reporter: “And Legal will let you get away with that?” Remini: “Well they have to. Because they are ‘my people.’” See the video for yourself: www.leahreminiaftermath.com/thr.
If anyone had done the vetting, it would have been obvious that there were huge holes in their stories and that the source of the stale claims were the same embittered anti-Scientology zealots who have made these same discredited allegations for years, if not decades.
Why is A&E, Leah Remini and Slauson Productions paying a salary to a man who violently abused his wife of 35 years and abandoned his two older children?
The show shamelessly ignored Rinder’s violent history, notably his attack on his former wife that was so savage that, according to her surgeon, she will never be able to use her arm normally again. Like most wife beaters Rinder blames the victim by claiming it was his former wife’s fault. That ignores the fact there were eyewitnesses, including their daughter, who has stated “I remember thinking he wants to kill her.” His son, who he abandoned, was diagnosed with cancer and was left without any assistance from his father. He went through the whole treatment and lived, thanks to the care he received from the Church and his mother.
How can Leah use as the main feeder line for her (false) stories a man who supported and promoted human trafficking on Backpage and for 6 years made his living from bosses who came up with and were paid by that site?
Tony Ortega was the chief defender of the human trafficking enabler Backpage on behalf of his corporate bosses. At the time Ortega’s bosses were making a bundle of money operating a website that law enforcement officials everywhere called an online cesspool that allowed pimps to exploit, traffic and endanger young girls for prostitution. Ortega attacked anyone who dared expose Backpage, notably CNN’s Amber Lyon. Ortega also mocked two teen rape victims in a newspaper under the alter ego “Antoine Oman” and has to this day never apologized. His actions are vile toward women and children.
How can Leah use as a subject a man who was so debased and perverted he exposed himself to women and was kicked out of the Church well over a decade ago?
Bruce Hines had been defrocked as a minister 22 years ago after, among other things, admitting to such sick behavior as exposing himself to women and “peeping Tom” incidents. Remini did not care nor mention that this subject of her show has a history of sick sexual acts.
How can Leah use as a subject a man who prior to being kicked out of the Church became known for torturing dogs and cats for his own sadistic pleasure?
Gary Morehead was dismissed from the Church two decades ago after repeatedly failing to meet the Church’s stringent ethical standards. He was constantly stealing, from loose change in the laundry room and shoplifting items from the canteen, to equipment belonging to the local fire department and even an $8,000 diamond ring belonging to another staff member. But Morehead’s worst offense was his sick history of sadism toward animals. A Church chaplain graciously extended a hand. “He was a mess, quite honestly, so I helped him. I helped him find a job. I helped him get to Los Angeles, find an apartment, have a place to stay and start a new life. And at that time, he was very thankful for that,” the chaplain said.
How can Leah give a voice to subjects who have arrest records for domestic violence and drug possession and allow them to make thousands of dollars, potentially to buy more drugs, by putting them on her show?
Two sources in one episode, Tara Reile and Nathan Rich, both have arrest records. Reile was arrested for domestic violence and drug possession, while Rich has at least five misdemeanors or felonies including criminal damage to property and possession of heroin and drug paraphernalia. Rich was on probation for two years on the drug charges.
What did the show leave out?
- The show never addressed the fact that Remini source Paul Haggis was forced to admit his story of leaving the Church was a fabrication after the person who coached him into leaving, Marty Rathbun, disclosed that Haggis asked him to lie and called out the Haggis story as “a really phony narrative.”
- It never mentioned the highly relevant fact that subject Hana Whitfield was one of the plaintiffs behind a failed coup attempt against the Church launched by a group that tried to enrich itself to the tune of $1 billion of parishioner money through a lawsuit that was dismissed six separate times. It also never mentioned her role in plotting her father’s murder by her brother.
- Desperate to mislead viewers into believing that her show had an impact, Remini ended her season with a manufactured tale about Ramina Nunnelee leaving the Church after watching her show. The story she cooked up was a bald-faced lie because Nunnelee was kicked out of the Church before Remini’s series even began filming in 2016.
- That the show routinely used as “sources” to mouth their false history of the Church those former staff who were either janitors or gardeners such as handyman/bus driver/mechanic/janitor/gardener John Brousseau who is best remembered for relentlessly stalking one of his female colleagues or gardener Karen Schless.
How many documented incidents of violence coincide with the airing of the program and how do the levels of violence compare to the past?
The Church has documented more than 500 incidents. Thankfully, law enforcement acted swiftly to investigate and, in some cases, made arrests. Here are some examples:
- The Church received a bomb threat in Hollywood.
- There was a drive-by shooting at the Church’s Golden Era Productions, resulting in an arrest.
- In Minneapolis, a man was arrested for setting fire to a Church of Scientology while parishioners were inside.
- In Tampa, a Church cross was vandalized.
- In one recent incident, an individual called, posing as an FBI agent and made threats against the life of the leader of the religion.
- One of the most shocking, that spoke volumes about the depth of Remini’s incendiary hatred, occurred when a 13-year-old boy posted a death threat on Facebook after binge watching her series with a friend. His father wrote an apology to the Church after law enforcement identified the source of the threat.
There is no question that the level of violent threats generated against the Church by Leah Remini’s hate-filled program is unprecedented in its history. Understandably, the Church fears the day when someone will be seriously injured because of the anti-religious hysteria stirred up by Remini to get ratings and make a buck.
Why was the typical plot of Leah’s show to attack parents, especially mothers?
In episode after episode, the plot was predictable: attack parents—especially mothers—and their faith. Cast them as the villains in every family tragedy. Blame parents for every bad choice their children make in life so they don’t have to accept responsibility.
One of the most shameless examples of this despicable narrative was Remini’s coaxing Marie Gale’s daughter Elizabeth to mercilessly attack her own mother, forcing her to relive the pain of her son’s tragic death. And not only that, she blatantly lied about her mother, which Remini aired, saying that her mother signed a petition to not keep the family property for the children. This was utterly untrue and never happened.
How can Leah live with herself being so overcome with hatred and evil purposes and having betrayed her friends and family?
The singular goal from the beginning has been to make money spreading hatred and bigotry, and not just by Remini and A&E. Hate Inc. had others feeding at the trough of religious hate.
As noted, Rinder was the subject of an entire episode in Season One. At no time during that program did A&E inform viewers that he was being paid. Other subjects were allowed to use A&E’s air time to shill self-published books. In one case, a subject immediately exploited her appearance by establishing a GoFundMe page to raise money for herself.
Having had “Generation KKK” blow up in its face when it leaked out that subjects were paid to spread hate on that ill-fated show, A&E came up with its own creative ways to compensate subjects who spread bigotry while bending over backwards to hush it up.
