Stephanie Scholz on Leah Remini Inciting Hate and Bigotry

I was at a client’s house. It was the first time I’m working with this client, and she had known another Scientologist friend of mine, very well. And the hairstylist brought up, when speaking about Scientology, “did you see the Leah Remini show?” It’s very gossipy and he thinks he’s really going to talk about something titillating. And the way in which he was talking about it made it so, like oh gosh, where is this going to go? Like is this going to be one of those scenarios where it’s going to get really dirty and disgusting, and I’m going to have to sort of handle it, and people are going to feel awkward. Which is just so silly. So I’m sort of sitting there waiting to see how it’s going to go. And I just—I hate that I felt hesitant. Because I’ve been on sets before and you mention it, and then people look at you weird. Or treat you a little differently. And she actually chimed up and said, “every Scientologist I’ve ever met has been really happy and lovely,” and you know, she only had great things to say. And he continued to talk about the things he had heard on the Leah Remini show. And apparently this, and you know she, again kept kind of chiming in. And finally I felt comfortable enough to feel supported by this other gal who wasn’t a Scientologist to say that I was a Scientologist, and none of that stuff was true. And to give the correct information. And you know he chimed in about them splitting up families. And I was like, “that’s not true. It’s only helped me be closer to my family. And able to deal with them better. And able to understand them, and work with them better. That’s all Scientology has ever done.

I felt like I had to write a letter because I don’t think people realize that they’re fueling bigotry and hatred against Scientology and Scientologists. I don’t think that A&E or Disney realize or understand that that’s what they’re funding. If this was a program about Jewish people or Judaism, and they were saying the hateful, hurtful things that they’re saying about Scientologists, there’s absolutely 100 percent no chance that this ever would have gotten made or even considered in the first place. But only because it’s Scientology is it somehow okay. It’s insane.

I have noticed that since Leah Remini has started spewing her false information and lies and hateful speech about Scientology and Scientologists, that it is somehow more acceptable to talk about Scientology in a negative way. To discriminate about Scientology. To say slanderous things about Scientology or Scientologists. Just because their Scientologists, somehow it’s okay to hate them. And that is all fueled by Leah Remini’s brainwashing people to think that we’re somehow different than we are. We’re just people trying to be better.

I had a friend of mine who was going through a rough time in life. We had been friends for several years. And I’m doing pretty well in life. And so it came up of what do I do? You know, how do I kind of get through troublesome times, you know the tools that I sort of use or why am I doing so well in life. I mentioned that I was a Scientologist and I apply Scientology to my life, to do better. We then started on the discussion about Scientology, and he had watched some of the bigotry and black propaganda against Scientology. And it was very clear that he had “learned” from things Leah Remini had said, that if he didn’t practice Scientology, that I wouldn’t be able to be friends with him anymore. If he didn’t decide to continue to do Scientology, that I wouldn’t be able to be in touch with him anymore. That I wouldn’t want to be friends with him. Which is completely false. And it is totally Leah Remini’s hate speech that has now settled in to him, and has made him fearful to me as a Scientologist. Who he knows very well.

In America we are so harsh and so severe with people who bully people with discrimination, with discriminating against people because of their sexual preference, with discriminating against people because of their race. And that’s one of the things that makes us a beautiful country, is everyone is free to practice what they are going to practice. You’re free do with your body what you want to do with your body. You’re free to practice whatever religion you want, or spirituality is left up to the person. But somehow with Scientology it’s okay to discriminate against us. It’s okay to bully Scientologists. It’s okay to treat us poorly because we’re Scientologists. And I’ve experience that because of Leah Remini. And the things that she’s spewing and the lies that she’s forwarding that are just false that couldn’t be farther from the truth. If you have studied Scientology at all you know that none of this stuff is true.

I feel like with as strong policies as Disney as a corporation has against bullying and discrimination, just in terms of their kid shows and all of the messages that they have going out to their public, it would be an outrage if this was a show about gay people. And there would be 100 percent no reason that they would do that. So either they’re just trying to fuel hate against Scientology and Scientologists, which is sadder than I can even comprehend, or somehow it’s socially acceptable and they think that they’re doing some service, where really they’re just getting a bunch of Scientologist haters together and making a show to kind of brainwash people about Scientology.

This is a group of people who hate Scientologists, doing a documentary about Scientology. It’s like getting a group of Neo Nazis together to do a program on Judaism. These people hate Jews. So somehow this is okay because it’s Scientology and Scientologists? But if it was Judaism or Christianity or Buddhism its—people would be outraged. But because it’s Scientology, it’s okay. It’s criminal.

The fact that this show is considered a documentary is a complete joke. It’s scripted. These people are basically actors. They’re told what to say, when to cry. She’s literally being an actress. She’s playing a role of a hateful, discriminatory person who’s trying to create an army of people to destroy one group of people. That concept is something that goes against everything that we believe as people on this Earth. You would never try to incite a group of people to attack one group. It’s just not what we do. People try to do that against people of a certain race and everyone fights against it because it’s so, so wrong. People try to do that because of someone’s sexual preference because they’re gay. That’s so wrong. Why is it okay to do it to Scientologists?