Letter from Cathy Bernardini to Deadline Hollywood
Stop Hate—Don’t Discriminate
See the letter from Stephanie Scholz to President Disney-ABC TV.
#STANDAgainstDiscrimination: Leah Remini’s irresponsible and vitriolic A&E show spreads religious discrimination and hate for profit. To date, there have been more than 500 threats – including dozens of death threats – as well as acts of vandalism coinciding with the airing of her series. People suffer. Parishioners, their children, the Church, and officers of the Church all have been subjected to an unprecedented number of threats, ranging from passing discriminatory insults to extreme threats of violence that require the involvement of law enforcement. Those making the threats have in some cases specifically cited Leah Remini as their inspiration. Here are some of the heartbreaking personal stories from Scientologists who have been subjected to discrimination and vilification due to the hatred Leah Remini and her dishonest and untrustworthy A&E show have incited.
Scientologists Talk About How The Hateful Leah Remini A&E Show Has Hurt Them And Their Loved Ones
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I’m asking that you please do the right thing and insist that your advertising is spent on literally any other show besides People Puzzler.
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Please stop enabling Leah Remini and her destructive behavior. Stop your sponsorship of the Game Show Network.
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We are appalled you continue permitting Leah Remini to hijack GSN’s name to spew antireligious hate, thus implicating your organization in her campaign to incite violence against Scientologists.
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Not that long ago, Jews would attempt to pass as gentile to protect their families. Fortunately, this is no longer the case in America (we hope). But bigotry grows a new head when the old one is cut off. You wouldn’t support the American Nazi Party’s finale on its “groundbreaking” series on Judaism. Or would you?
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Her show has inspired desecration of our facilities, numerous threats of physical violence, and yes, harassment of our children in public schools. Of course it won’t be you who is bloodied if any of these threats come to fruition. It will be me, or my friends, or my fellows or, God help us, our children.
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Leah Remini’s show on A&E has resulted in threats of violence against Scientologists around the world, including the actual murder of one young staff member. These people are my friends and family members. They are doctors, dentists, artists, carpenters, business owners and school kids.
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The real problem appears to be that you bought into the lies publicized by Leah Remini whose sole intent is to defile a religion. She, with your support, is acting like the Nazis did in the late 1920s and 1930s against another religion in Europe, which ended horrifically.
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Remini has targeted Scientologists, Muslims and Jehovah’s Witnesses, and had it continued, who knows? Maybe Jews would be next. It’s not the target that is the critical point here, but the intent.
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In the interests of common decency, not to mention to preserve any hope you might have of credibility, I urge you to remove this “fake award” from your planned broadcast of this ceremony.
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It’s especially shocking that you want to present her Critics’ Choice award for the season of her television show that inspired a real-life murder. I guess that is an “impact,” but is it really deserving of an award?
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The perpetrators of these crimes cited Leah Remini personally as their source of inspiration.
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At a time when some in our society are a hair trigger away from violence, there are those of us who can and will act to do our part to reduce factors that may push someone into an act he or she would not otherwise commit.
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What was almost unheard of before now has become, tragically, all too commonplace. Violence and even murder now occur inside the very buildings that society should be committed to maintaining as protected peaceful sanctuaries for people of all faiths.
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We know Leah Remini’s “Impact” award was determined by an executive committee composed of members of both the BTJA and NPAC. Eli Holzman, the Executive Producer of Leah Remini’s reality television series, sits on the Executive Committee of NPAC. In other words, the whole thing is orchestrated.
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This is the first time in our history we have not heard from Disney’s leader at a time like this. Enough is enough. We are family.
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On the road that leads to peace among the people of this world, Leah Remini is the swerving drunk driver, A&E is the car, Disney handed her the keys and the booze, and you are the traffic cop standing and quietly watching.
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The hatred and intolerance being spread by the A&E/Leah Remini show currently airing takes bigotry to a whole new and dangerous level..
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Have you not seen the violence leveled against synagogues, mosques, temples and churches in recent months and years? Have you not read the media reports about the children, adults and elderly who have been callously murdered in their places of worship? Have you not heard of the grieving torment this has created, not just with families but entire communities?
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By condoning the airing of this series, Disney makes itself a party to the violence resulting. I understand that the Church of Scientology has had hundreds of threats of death, violence or vandalism incited by the show.
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Leah Remini is a bigot. She is hateful, vicious and hurtful. Her claim to fame is her assault upon her former friends and faith. According to countless testimonies of those who knew her well, she was only proficient at maligning them.
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How would you feel, Ms. Newton, if Disney decided to fund and air a program which depicted the majority of Black youth as under-educated criminals…or the majority of young black women as unwed mothers? Wouldn’t you be outraged?
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Given the history of the Disney Company, it’s my guess that the prejudice against my church stems more from being misinformed than from actual malice.
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Since all organizations who’ve engaged in discrimination and bigotry have eventually ended up having to apologize later, and had to make up for the damage they did, how far does Disney dare push the inevitable liability it will incur as a result.
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The point of this letter is to bring to your attention the following: The Walt Disney Company is currently producing a show that is based solely on an attack of my religion.
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Our ministers and parishioners have provided relief in disasters around the world, helping victims of floods, riots, bombings, tornadoes, tsunamis, brush fires, and countless other natural and man-made disasters.
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I see that the Daily Mail continues to pander to religious hate-monger Leah Remini and once again publishes her bigoted hogwash—this time a fake story that someone talking to Leah Remini could in some way imperil that person’s custody of her own child. For Gawd's sake!
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Remini’s program spews hatred rather than providing honest information. It has resulted in actual threats of violence against my religion by people who said they were goaded into criminal action by her message.
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I can’t recall any company I’ve ever come across that wants the public to associate their product or image with religious bigotry and hate. I can’t actually think of one!
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I ask you NOT to advertise on this program so your company is not viewed as condoning religious hatred.
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Please draw the line on what your company is willing to fund in the way of programming. Don’t allow your advertising dollars to support shows that are driven by hate, resentment and bigotry.
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I could go on and on pointing out the lies spread by Remini and her pseudo-experts but even that is secondary to the idea of freedom. Freedom of choice, freedom of religion, freedom from harassment… take your pick.
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Are you aware that another A&E advertiser, Georgia-Pacific, recently chose to sever its association with the show “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath?” They stated they are adding that show to their “do not air” list and updated their media buying guidelines to exclude programs that feature content like that seen in “Cults & Extreme Beliefs…”
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According to the American Bar Association website: “Hate speech is speech that offends, threatens, or insults groups, based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or other traits.”
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Her program spews hatred rather than providing honest information. It has resulted in threats of violence against my religion by people who said they were goaded into criminal action by her message.
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I see that news.com.au is the new mouthpiece for an American bigot-at-large. If you really think that Leah Remini, the ex-communicated, former Scientologist, has any credibility amongst the thinking public, you are sorely mistaken. That you cite her, as if her word means something, drops you into the same toxic swamp in which she resides.
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Just because Remini and her ilk are off the deep end of history is no reason for you jump off the ledge with her.
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This is Remini’s “aftermath”—harm, destruction, prison sentences, broken families and bullied children. These are her gifts.
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I know I will personally boycott any product whose sales will help support this attack on religion. And I am not alone in this thinking.
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Remini’s smear campaign makes mockery of one of the very principles upon which the United States of America was formed: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
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Western culture is experiencing a golden age of tolerance, represented by the #MeToo movement, by increased respect for LGBTQs, African Americans, and others. Yet, in the face of this rising tide of pluralism, you are propping up Leah Remini and providing her with her bullhorn.
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It’s utterly amazing to me that in this day and age, I have to write a letter to an advertiser requesting that they withdraw their financial support from a television show that attacks my religion. Seriously, how does it come to this?
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My experience in Scientology for almost 20 years has been extraordinarily positive. Scientologists as a group are some of the most friendly, outgoing, helpful and interested people you could ever meet.
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I understand you are a contributor to IPC, the Intellectual Property Corporation. You may not be aware that one of the TV programs that benefits from the IPC is a show dedicated to religious persecution.
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Watching the show for the first time, my reaction was utter disgust… like what I imagine a Jew might feel after stumbling upon an Internet hate group’s claims of Jews eating babies. Yes, I see the show as that absurd and ridiculous.
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The money you made with your blood, sweat and tears—starting at the incredible age of 12—is, today, funding an injustice. Please give it another, very hard look.
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My point here is that a show like this cannot survive without the dollars given to it for advertising. My appeal is to your higher self: please find something inspirational to support and you’ll contribute to uplifting the community and yourself.
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As an advertiser, you can make a difference. Please do not continue to support, sponsor or credit A&E's Remini program as anything more than what it is: hate speech.
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My hope is that you will step up and do the right thing and not be similarly out of touch and insensitive. Alert people who take meaningful action are the ones who make the world a better place.
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The American people are not stupid. Leah Remini’s stats are dismal for a reason. Every person who has talked to me about her show calls it stupid, self serving and frankly too ridiculous to be believed.
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How did a respected, unbiased, work-related platform such as LinkedIn become a hate-inspiring, money-grubbing soap box? Is it aspiring to join the ranks of Twitter, Facebook and the like?
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Do we need to tell you stories of distraught children disparaged at school for being Scientologists, of poison pen letters circulating in our parishioners’ neighborhoods, of our members being harassed on the streets?
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Show your products, spend your dollars on shows which enhance the human experience through the building of character, not the destruction of it.
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What could be the motivation if not purely for profit? What’s the journalistic or societal benefit from this show that uses slanderous attacks based mainly on falsehoods and for the material gain of the network and a select cast of characters?
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“Religious intolerance does not mean one cannot express his own beliefs. It does mean that seeking to undermine or attack the religious faith and beliefs of another has always been a short road to trouble.” These words from the booklet The Way to Happiness – precept 18, “Respect The Religious Beliefs of Others”
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Remini is hell-bent on attacking Scientology, while Disney and its sponsors are enabling her to spread her delusional ideas, pure and simple.
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Before investing your advertising dollars promoting your product on Leah Remini’s hate TV show, do yourself a favor and spend a few minutes on Scientology.tv and watch an episode of Voices For Humanity or perhaps Meet a Scientologist.
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I am writing to ask you to carefully reconsider your sponsorship of A&E’s Leah Remini show, Scientology and the Aftermath. As a Scientologist of more than forty years, I am deeply offended by it.
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The appalling PR that would go along with another hate-filled season is self-explanatory: it’s a total affront to the right to practice whichever religion one chooses (whether Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Scientologist, Mormon, Catholic, Buddhist, Anglican… the list is endless).
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Is hatred and suspicion of our neighbors what we want to “welcome into the hearts and homes of millions of families around the world”? Really?
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I implore you to not support religious intolerance with your advertising dollars. Not only is the show dropping in viewership, but I imagine there are more fireworks ahead if Remini expands her horizons and attacks other religions as well.
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A&E has announced that professional bigot Leah Remini will continue to host the TV program Aftermath, despite flying in the face of professionalism, good manners, good sense, and the current volatility of American discourse.
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This is ironic considering Disney, which owns 50 percent of A&E, immediately cancelled ABC’s Roseanne show due to her racist tweet, yet they turn a blind eye to A&E’s religious persecution of Scientologists. This is sanctimonious hypocrisy.
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When I was growing up in the 1950s my family refused to buy anything that was German in origin or even remotely connected to Germany. My father and mother had family members killed in the holocaust, and rightly or wrongly they positioned any Germany connection with being connected to Nazism.
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What will my sons tell my grandchildren about Disney and how they went from bringing song and joy to their childhood to bashing their religion in prime time?
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Our world has enough hatred and venom. You don’t need to add to it. Why not share some love, some respect, some care for others? We all live on the same planet.
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I would have expected it to be a trash gossip magazine, not the Christian Post. And to try to “hide” behind the trickery of reporting only what other media wrote doesn’t absolve you from your bigotry.
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“I mean I’m just a crappy, has-been actress who’s trying to make a dollar off my church… .” Leah Remini
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I came across a Daily Mail article of 18 January, the same date as yours, which announced the storming of your sister organization, Newsweek, by two dozen NYPD and investigators from the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
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Under these circumstances (not to mention the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the U.S. Constitution Bill of Rights, both of which espouse freedom of religion) the employment of Paul Buccieri, Nancy Dubuc and Rob Sharenow should be terminated, and the remaining executives at A&E should publicly apologize for this atrocious series.
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Time will reveal the truth about Ms. Remini, who is known everywhere for doing this show strictly for money and personal publicity. It really is rather pathetic that Disney would support such a low, degraded show on their network.
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Leah Remini’s program needs to end. All should be given the chance to find out about Scientology for themselves. They are owed and deserve that.
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The hateful and false claims from the Leah Remini Aftermath show do in fact create damage. Those false claims incite hate, bigotry and violence, not in theory but in the reality of hard cold facts.
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Anything that would distance Disney and A&E from the sour taste this show has put in all of our mouths, I would support. Please get back to shows that serve the public and enhance your own reputation.
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But then as I fast-forward to the present and “The Aftermath” I can’t imagine any family gathering around the TV to be entertained by it. From what I have heard, the show has pulled more than a few family and friend relationships apart. The show is so un-Disney-like, an analogy would be walking into a Baskin-Robbins and finding plumbing supplies on sale.
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Seriously, let’s get some art and entertainment back into your affiliate A&E. I will continue to contact your sponsors and advertisers religiously (pardon the pun) to inform them of my displeasure regarding their support of this hateful show.
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I am writing to make sure you are aware of the low quality, misinformed mess that is Remini’s show. As a Scientologist, I also stand against any religious discrimination. And therefore, I urge you to do the right thing and not renew it.
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I would suggest a check of recent and past news stories which are a parable about people and organizations whose past conduct has come back to haunt them in later years … Short-term ratings can never compensate for long-term damage to reputation, credibility and self-respect.
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This is the United States of America. This country was founded on the idea that everyone should be able to worship as they choose. This show is an attempt to turn back time and create a country where only the “sanctified” religions are allowed.
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Disney needs to recognize that the bigotry of this program adds about as much to the public understanding of Scientology, and religion in general, as a Ku Klux Klan rally adds to racial harmony.
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I am a Scientologist and a proud one at that. I’m also Jewish and as a Jewish person I never had to worry about being attacked for my religious orientation in America and surely would never imagine it being condoned by one of my role-model companies.
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Your rendition of Scientology is so far removed from anything connected with the subject that you make yourself an object of ridicule by writing it. This is unfortunate, because it is so unnecessary.
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You don’t know what a shock it was for me to find out today that I’m not real! I just checked myself yesterday and I seemed real enough. But if Yahoo, and Leah Remini say so then it must be true!
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We are not fake. I’m a living, breathing, Southern California blogger, as are my co-religionists. We’ve been here, all along, quietly making the world a better place and contributing to YOUR welfare. Not surprisingly, we got tired of the unmitigated bigotry fostered by the likes of Yahoo and have decided to STAND UP and object to anti-Scientology slurs and hate crimes.
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There’s nothing fake about my blogs on STANDLEAGUE.org and nothing fake about my identity as a Scientologist of almost 30 years. I’ll show my face, my birth certificate, my membership card with the International Association of Scientologists and take a picture out in front of my Scientology church.
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I write a blog for the Scientology STAND website and was sorry to learn this morning, via Yahoo Entertainment News, that I don’t exist. For the longest time, I thought I did.
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My name is Jim Meskimen. I am not a robot, I am a flesh and blood person, and a blogger for STAND. As I am not merely an avatar or a fake account, I am capable of thinking and feeling, and expressing my own views.
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This hate campaign by a former member of Scientology has really gotten out of hand. For you to be forwarding it pretty much discredits your site and inclines me to get any and all of my data from Bing. I have pretty much started doing this lately anyway, but this seals the deal.
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A few STAND members have asked, for their own protection, to be provided with an avatar. This was granted solely because Leah Remini and Mike Rinder are responsible for instigating over 500 documented threats of violence, death threats, acts of vandalism and hate targeting the Church, its parishioners and its leaders.
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If you advertise on such programs it broadcasts that you are in pro-religious discrimination, pro-bigotry and pro-violence against parishioners of a religion.
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Remini is just another intolerant hater adding to the escalating bigotry. She and her show should not be supported by anyone who cares about the truth and trying to bring people and groups together in tolerance and friendship.
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Time has come for you to choose between good and evil. Because make no mistake, evil and destruction is what Remini stands for while accusing others of it. Interestingly enough, that is exactly how the Nazis spread their agenda in the 1930’s, they accused an entire people, an innocent people, of the very evil they were guilty of.
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I’m a Scientologist and have been for 43 years. My father was a Scientologist (until he passed away) and he introduced me to it. My children are Scientologists—by their choice—and so are my grandchildren. In all the years I’ve been in Scientology I have never seen anything the likes of which Ms. Remini speaks.
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Supporting Leah Remini’s hatred toward our religion opens the door and contributes to other hate-spewing people like her attacking other beneficial and helpful groups and religions.
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I am the director of a Church of Scientology and have seen firsthand the hate this show produces. My own church has been vandalized on more than one occasion and verbal assaults occur at least twice a week. This is absolutely unacceptable.
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Mother Theresa once said that if each of us did ONE right thing the world would change. So do the right thing. Stop sponsoring the Leah Remini and A&E bigotry. It is the ONE RIGHT thing to do. Let people see that you stand for something.
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This fake reality TV series that incites religious bigotry, and has resulted in harmful consequences, needs to be removed from any sponsor’s list of programs to advertise on.
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Enough on today’s attacks and negativity. There are many different viewpoints in this world and we can all get along with those differences. But to support continual ATTACKS against people of faith resulting in threats and harm…this has gone too far.
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Please know that through your advertising dollars you are encouraging hate and bigotry in a country that is built on freedom of religion.
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Yet again we are confronted with an article filled with a mind-numbing recital of false claims coming from religion-hater Leah Remini, about my religion, Scientology.
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Rather than waste time trying to explain to a propagandist why she and her rehearsed and paid “guests” are so non-credible, I thought I should give you the viewing public’s opinion of her series. Last night’s was the lowest of both seasons.
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Look, in these volatile times our country needs emphasis placed on virtues such as compassion, understanding and tolerance, not hatred and intolerance. Events in Las Vegas and Charlottesville tell us this.
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You accept Leah Remini’s vengeance without looking at a single allegation independently to determine its truth or falsity according to your inspection. If you really give a damn about humanity you would do more than parrot another’s vitriol and take a look at the good people do.
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I am a Scientologist and an American. I would like to practice my religion without false attacks on my church promoted as “truth” by a handful of former Scientologists for profit and entertainment.
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Lies like Remini throws around may garner sympathy for a while but eventually the truth comes out. I hope and pray it does not take long for her to be exposed for what she is: just another greedy liar, demagogue, hate-merchant and destroyer of families.
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For myself, my friends and my children, please withdraw your support and endorsement of a show that seeks to legitimize the marginalization and bias against a religious group for the purpose of sensationalism and profit.
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I am a proud member of the Church of Scientology and have been for nearly 40 years, and I refute every statement that Leah Remini has made that attempts to show my church in a bad light. If even a fraction of what she spews were true, Scientology would not be flourishing as it is today.
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Not only am I Scientologist for 46 years, but I am an African-American who grew up in the 50s and 60s. So I know about hatred and bigotry when I see it. And you are front and center in forcing people to believe lies that will damage lives, hurt families and cause threats and violence.
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In 2013 the Church of Scientology expelled Ms. Remini. She was expelled because she either refused or was incapable of adhering to our ethical standards. Over the many years prior she was given enormous assistance to help correct her wayward and unethical ways, but she was simply disinclined. It was her choice.
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I remain involved in my church’s activities weekly, which continue to improve and lift me spiritually and mentally. I suspect that these are the same types of things that keep people involved and dedicated to their own churches, no matter what denomination.
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If you continue to stand behind this hate speech, I will not stand behind you, and will boycott your company and tell everyone I know to do the same.
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Someone close to my family was confused and almost poisoned by the lies and the hate that this “reality TV” show has spread. Fortunately, she was able to see through the lies and is back to her usual, buoyant self.
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The Leah Remini show attacking the Church does not offer anything positive on the Church and is simply a religious hate show that can create hatred toward our members—not dissimilar to what some neo-Nazi hate groups are currently pushing against minorities in our country.
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Growing up, I never experienced hate and bigotry directed at other religions. I only knew of acceptance and respect for the religious beliefs of others. To me it is part of living in a civilized society.
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More and more executives and business leaders are waking up to the fact that they have a moral obligation; in a recent New York Times article, Mary T. Barra, Chief Executive of General Motors, emphasized this when she called on people to “come together as a country and reinforce values and ideals that united us—tolerance, inclusion and diversity.”
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There is too much conflict and turmoil incited by people like Leah Remini, and it is time to not only cancel the show, but to air the truth, share the proven technology to help people better themselves and end the hatred she promotes.
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In these troubled times, I am concerned that your company’s advertising dollars are supporting a show that has promoted religious bigotry and hatred. Our country does not need more divisive rhetoric, which only leads to violence. We have had enough.
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A&E has resurrected bigotry with Remini’s “Aftermath” and regrettably, you are a supporter. Through your support you have become a partner in hate, bigotry and lies. This is true. I am a businessman and run the largest company of its type in America. I can’t always choose my clients, but I can choose the people and causes I support.
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It is a fact that overt and covert discrimination is what leads to violence, and right here and now I am standing up for my rights not to have violence leveled against myself or my fellow Scientologists.
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I believe I have the right to enjoy a peaceful life, free to practice my religion in harmony with my fellow man. I protest your support of this no-talent Leah Remini trying to disrupt our lives while she attempts to make a living spewing hate.
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While forwarding Remini’s assertion in your August 18 article that “Elizabeth Moss believes she can’t talk to me,” the facts now reveal that Remini has squelched Scientologists’ right to communicate by blocking their Twitter accounts. She also blocked Andy Clark of Esquire Magazine.
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For a company such as Geico to support with your advertising dollars a program that, through false information, blatantly attacks my religion and the people that practice it, is not just un-American, it is absolutely fascist.
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The bottom line here is that this show you are supporting with your advertising dollars promotes false information and bigotry. This leads to bullying and violence. We live in a country that is overwrought with division, violence and hatred right now. As responsible Americans we need to do everything we can to stop supporting vehicles that promote bigotry and division and start becoming engaged in meaningful communication that will begin to heal these wounds that we are all feeling.
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By your endorsement, you condone the many threats of harm to me, my fellow Scientologists and our church properties. I cannot imagine that you would do this to the religions of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism and put their followers at risk.
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Leah Remini’s programs on Scientology are designed to create a false picture of Scientology, its organizations, and its leaders. This is why I can no longer consume, purchase, or support those companies that sponsor this show and I call on them to fully withdraw their sponsorship of the show.
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What motivates an ex-Scientologist to spread hate and lies about my religion? She is well paid for the trash that she and others spew. If you actually knew her, you probably wouldn’t invite her into your home or to your own church. My guess is you wouldn’t want your children to be around her. Yet you willingly believe the hate and lies.
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Aligning your products and media energies to show positive actions that are happening in the United States is what we as a people need. We need to calm the rhetoric, and this A&E program is not doing that. It is inciting violence where there need be none and where there is no reason for hatred or violence.
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A young woman was literally incited to a violent act pretty much solely by Remini's hate speech and the agreement of fellow haters. And in the weeks following, other strangers decided to pile on by making threatening calls or posting on social media that they were glad this had happened to us.
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I understand that you may or may not care about any of this. But if you are a religious or spiritual person at all, or have people of faith in your company, I urge you to ask some hard questions about your continued support of this show.
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Hate begets violence, as recent news events have shown. Remini’s rants have spawned hundreds of threats of violence against my church and its members and leaders. A woman drove her car through the front doors of one of our churches in Texas and could easily have killed the people who were standing in the lobby or children who had been playing in the nursery earlier. She told police that Leah Remini had inspired her to violence.
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The show your company supported by advertising spawned immediate documented death threats to all members of the Church of Scientology. The coincidence was uncanny.
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I personally cannot and will not support a corporation, no matter how much I like their product, that lends its name and advertising dollars to a program that forwards hatred against my religion.
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Skechers is promoting religious hate through your advertising support of the Leah Remini series about Scientology on A&E. Support of this show is equivalent to supporting the Ku Klux Klan’s views against non-whites and Catholics or supporting Nazi views against Jews.
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You are advertising on a network that has blatantly supported religious discrimination which has led to acts of violence against people of faith. It is disgusting and I’d like your help to make this stop.
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The show “Aftermath” promotes hatred toward one particular religion, the Church of Scientology. That hatred causes the insane to commit acts of violence.
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Do you think it is smart, funny, or otherwise appropriate to sponsor a show that is fomenting hatred and animosity toward a religion? Is this your idea of an intelligent use of your shareholder’s money?
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In this current climate of political and religious unrest, it is astounding that you would add to the fray with your support of this show, especially since Leah Remini’s allegations are untrue. This is a direct attack on Scientology and its adherents. If you had done your homework, you would know that Scientology brings real help and hope worldwide.
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While I understand your line of business is about reaching as many people as possible to generate income through your ads, I also understand that responsibility for one’s society, care of others’ beliefs, respect and admiration for others of goodwill, are not concerns that one simply sets aside for one’s own financial gain. If you have goodness in your heart and if you honestly feel you do good for this society, you will seek what’s right, and supporting Leah’s hatred is NOT right.
MEDIA WATCH
Kirstie Alley, even according to you, is a fine actress and woman of immense courage and integrity who loves life and loves people.
Leah Remini on the other hand is a coward without sincerity or integrity…
MEDIA WATCH
I consider Amazon to be a great business enterprise and have many friends who use your products. However, I now see that your company is supporting A&E’s Aftermath hate TV series, and this is far below the standards I would expect from your company and this forces us to reconsider our patronage.
MEDIA WATCH
Your sponsorship is, wittingly or unwittingly, assisting a blatant attempt to destroy an American religion. Threats of violence have been made against members of my church. There are real consequences and real people involved. At this time we are witnessing that inciting hatred leads to violence, and your support of this program is not benign. By so advertising you are condoning this hatemongering. Imagine if this show were about your belief or religion.
MEDIA WATCH
In an era when we need to focus on the great things that unite us all, don’t be the corporation that’s funding the rise of hatred in America. Because let’s face it, if Scientology were guilty of all those things that she claims it is guilty of… jeez if it were guilty of just one percent even…justice would have been swift and sure and I would not be writing this letter to you, imploring you to recognize your human decency and not buy into the hype of hatred.
MEDIA WATCH
I’m profoundly saddened and disgusted that you have chosen to advertise on A&E during Leah Remini’s show that promotes intolerance and bigotry. In light of the recent events occurring in our country, that you would support a program that seeks to marginalize members of any religion is nothing short of hateful and dangerous. I’m both Jewish and a practicing Scientologist, and I can assure you your actions have been deeply noted.
MEDIA WATCH
My grandfather, Harry Warner, President of Warner Bros. Studio for over 50 years, considered the medium of film and television “an instrument of peace.”
MEDIA WATCH
Leah Remini is a hateful woman, running a campaign against her former religion that advocates religious bigotry. In today’s world, with many people taking drugs in many forms, this incites people to commit violent acts which is a threat to people and property.
MEDIA WATCH
I am writing to protest your financial support of A&E’s anti-religious hate show with Leah Remini. Your advertising dollars are fueling hate and violence toward Churches of Scientology and Scientologists.
MEDIA WATCH
As members of Scientologists Taking Action Against Discrimination (STAND), we write to express our utter disgust at Geico once again sponsoring A&E’s Leah Remini’s show and to place our demand that you cease any further corporate support of this blatant religious bigotry and hatred. A&E’s show has to date caused over 500 threats of murder and violence, which is what your advertising dollars are supporting.
MEDIA WATCH
This is the second time now that I am writing to you in hopes that I can appeal to a sense of responsibility as a major media conglomerate with viewers everywhere. The Disney brand is one that carries with it a high standard which should not be compromised by carrying false and deceptive content.
MEDIA WATCH
My husband and I have been Scientologists for over 40 years. During this time we have raised three wonderful boys using Mr. Hubbard’s technology and we find it offensive that our children and grandchildren and children of other Scientologists should be targeted by your program.
MEDIA WATCH
Ours is a thriving, popular, 21st-century religion that has expanded and flourished during its 67 years of existence. In fact you include the word Scientology in your article for no plausible reason. So you abuse our good name to gain illicit profit. Shame on you.
MEDIA WATCH
Leah Remini’s show on A&E is not about Scientology but about her twisted version of events. Were any of her televised installments true, Scientology would not exist. Her claims are outlandish, to put it mildly.
MEDIA WATCH
Remini and her sidekick, Mike Rinder, parade themselves as bastions of goodwill, while through their despicable actions they destroy families and happiness left and right and get nominated for it. This is sickening.
MEDIA WATCH
Unfortunately though, you are force-feeding the thinking public a diet of your obsession and her drivel, best described as hate-speech. No one asked for it and no one needs it, least of all those who are the subject of it—Scientologists. But you keep piling it on.
MEDIA WATCH
It is unconscionable in this day and age that a reporter for a respected news network should be permitted to get away with this type of invitation to violence. It would not be tolerated with any other religion and should in no way be tolerated against Scientology.
MEDIA WATCH
I find it very strange at this point in history that any company would produce a show that would so viciously attack a recognized religion, especially one that has done so much to help mankind. I mean, come on—this is 2017, not 1930 (Germany), 1605 (religious persecution in Europe) or 1300 (Inquisition).
MEDIA WATCH
When you really look at this, it is the responsibility of each individual to improve themselves and not up to someone else. So Leah Remini blaming others for her state of mind is a serious mis-assignment of responsibility.
MEDIA WATCH
Remini’s hate campaign, misrepresented as a “public service” in your puff piece, has caused actual harm to individuals and families, as demonstrated in these specific instances I know of personally.
MEDIA WATCH
The July 13 piece, fawning over Remini’s Emmy announcement, was just today eviscerated by none other than Radar Online who report that the whole series “was a total act.” Radar further reports that an erstwhile associate of Remini’s branded her show “cheap and fake” because it was “scripted” and is without a bone of genuine content as she, Remini, is only doing it “for the money.”
MEDIA WATCH
Why is it acceptable to support and promote a documentary which is born entirely from hate and directed at my friends, my family, me? Does someone really have to die before religious bigotry against Scientology is taken seriously?
MEDIA WATCH
What is needed is an even-handed, non discriminatory approach when discussing this subject. Scientology is a new religion. It has been misunderstood because it is new. Certain individuals capitalize on others’ ignorance and spread lies about it, as Ms. Remini is doing. It does not mean that you should forward those lies.
MEDIA WATCH
Once again, I’m writing to express my upset, outrage and utter disgust at your renewal of the direct attack on my religion through Leah Remini’s self -promotional fiction.
MEDIA WATCH
This type of television programming is frightening and has placed people at risk. I have grandchildren and I have become concerned for their safety. I personally request that you cease your financial support of this horrible show. Hopefully ratings and money are not the only things that drive Hollywood today.
MEDIA WATCH
Face it you are supporting the single most unfounded, vicious, vile anti-religious hate in years. And NONE of her allegations are supported by a single documented fact. Not a one. It is all vicious hatred from an ex-member.
MEDIA WATCH
Here’s an analogy: I am quite sure that Tiffany & Co. has customers who had a bad experience at their store from time to time. That doesn’t mean that Tiffany is bad. A program that collected a half-dozen disgruntled ex-customers of Tiffany over the years would not present any type of accurate portrayal of the real Tiffany when compared to the millions of their happy and grateful customers. This is exactly what we face.
MEDIA WATCH
As a Scientologist, I have seen Scientology do too much good and change too many lives dramatically for the better to stand by while a systematic effort to denigrate it is allowed to pass itself off as information.
MEDIA WATCH
What is one of America’s best-known drug stores, “at the corner of Happy and Healthy,” doing supporting a controversial hate and propaganda program such as the A&E show Scientology and the Aftermath? There must be less controversial and offensive productions Walgreens can sponsor.
MEDIA WATCH
Leah Remini’s hatred has spawned over 500 death threats, bomb threats, and acts of violence. Perpetrators were prosecuted and jail terms were served. Her hate speech caused children to be bullied at schools, employees to be harassed at work, property to be destroyed, and people to be scared. That is her legacy. Is that to be yours?
MEDIA WATCH
I’ve always believed that hate begets hate, and Leah Remini’s one-sided program sends America a
message that it is okay to terrorize someone because of their religious views.
MEDIA WATCH
I decided to write you as I recently found out that A&E has just green lit another season of “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.” I’m not sure if you are aware of this or what this show is about, but I wanted to share with you how it has affected my family.
MEDIA WATCH
I have always loved Disney for their anti-bullying and anti-discrimination policies but not now that you are supporting a program which is only creating false information, bigotry, bullying and discrimination against Scientologists.
MEDIA WATCH
My grandfather, Harry Warner, President of Warner Bros. Studio for over 50 years considered the medium of film and television “an instrument of peace.”
MEDIA WATCH
Why not do a show that shows the millions of people who have been helped by Scientology? Or the millions of people who have found personal relief and help due to the selfless humanitarian deeds of Scientologists? Rather than a handful of people who can’t get any other job…
MEDIA WATCH
When you sit in a room, as I have, and quietly listen to your 90-year-old mother talk about the KKK riding through a North Carolina town with torches, causing the kind of fear she as a young child had never before seen in the eyes of grownups around her; or heard your husband’s uncle describe himself as a 17-year-old boy in Auschwitz standing before and escaping from “Doctor of Death” Josef Mengele, you know that these activities started with widespread religious discrimination.
MEDIA WATCH
Thousands of interested people walk into Scientology Churches for the first time every week to find the answer—for themselves—to “What is Scientology?”
MEDIA WATCH
At what point will someone at A&E step up and say, “Hey, wait a minute. We are paying a couple of ex-members of a thriving religion to get others to carry their message of hate. Is this the type of channel we want to be?”
MEDIA WATCH
Surely the executives and stockholders of A&E must condemn violence against a single religion. Assuming I am correct, how is it possible to renew the Remini show without acknowledging the harm it perpetrates?
MEDIA WATCH
Please step up and take some responsibility for righting this religious persecution.
MEDIA WATCH
Please rise to the occasion and close the window. Pull the plug on further shows that will only degrade your reputation. You may not realize the harm they do to individuals and families; I have seen it.
MEDIA WATCH
I have been a Scientology Minister since 1968. What you are doing by sponsoring this Leah Remini witch hunt against Scientology and Scientologists is all too familiar. You are harming a lot of good people who save lives and help people all over the world.
MEDIA WATCH
It is hard to conceive that Disney is in any way involved in such hateful, money-motivated messaging. It makes me wonder if amusement park owners in Germany actively worked to create hatred against Jews as you are doing with me and my family.
MEDIA WATCH
What this survey does show is that media propagandists select a target to attack to create a preconceived false narrative and then conduct a “survey” to determine the result of their propaganda attack. Germans have a history of doing this unconstitutional and tortious act against designated “targets.”
MEDIA WATCH
Leah Remini’s only interest is in creating religious hatred to swell her own pockets. She’s a professional bigot on A&E’s payroll, producing a vindictive, one-sided series that never for a moment sought balance. A&E should be ashamed for further fanning the flames of religious intolerance and undermining one of our great freedoms we enjoy.
MEDIA WATCH
The Scientology religion is for the individual. It is not dependent on someone or something else. Membership is not in any way hinged upon celebrity.
MEDIA WATCH
The web page of the United States Department of Justice dealing with religious freedom doesn't say “Protecting the Religious Freedom of All, Except Scientology.” It states, “Protecting the Religious Freedom of All.” It is all-inclusive because that is the overriding all-embracing principle at the heart of our democracy.
MEDIA WATCH
Beware of bitter individuals, generally they are attempting to hide their acts and their lies by creating lies about others.
MEDIA WATCH
We are so open it is laughable as to why a person would be more attracted to hearing about false, salacious statements rather than researching the subject directly. One can know very quickly the scope, intention, and actual accomplishments of Scientology—worldwide.
MEDIA WATCH
Leah failed as a Scientologist because she was unable to maintain the ethical standards of the Church. This is something that I personally observed.
MEDIA WATCH
My point is that we all have a right to our own religious beliefs. And we don’t denigrate the faith of others, as many others do. It is this practice that is largely contributing to the current climate of hostility and non-acceptance occurring in America and across the world right now.
MEDIA WATCH
It has come to my attention that a group of Scientology apostates are going to appear on 20/20 with a show intentionally designed to attack and create hate toward the religion she was formerly a member of. I believe the source of this is Leah Remini and her show on A&E.
MEDIA WATCH
I had met Leah Remini several times and worked with her on one occasion and that from what I personally observed, she was someone who would do or say almost anything for personal profit.
MEDIA WATCH
This negative show, which we both know is of a mocked-up “reality” full of less-than-upstanding ex-Scientologists, hits straight into the core of what people of good faith are working to achieve on a daily basis.
MEDIA WATCH
The Leah Remini attacks on the Church of Scientology, my religion, are her own personal affair, for which she must take her own responsibility, and it is inexcusable for your organization to forward such hatred and bigotry.
MEDIA WATCH
If this was a story about Jews, Muslims, African-Americans, Mormons, Catholics, LGBT, etc., would you treat it the same way?
MEDIA WATCH
Second generation Scientologist and mother of two expresses her concern over planned 20/20 show
MEDIA WATCH
Scientology has been priceless in my life and especially when I raised my son many years ago. It gave me tools to apply when I needed them the most.
MEDIA WATCH
I am deeply offended by your show about Scientology. I wonder what country I am living in where attacks on religion are tolerated.
MEDIA WATCH
It would be hard to imagine a network buying and showing a reality series that disparaged Islam or Hinduism.
MEDIA WATCH
A&E has made a big mistake airing this Leah Remini series, taking the word of a known religious defector as sooth.
MEDIA WATCH
It offends me deeply to see Leah Remini promoting hate against my religion and profiting from it on top of that.
MEDIA WATCH
Congratulations on pouring more fuel on the flames of religious bigotry in America with Leah Remini’s new anti-Scientology “reality show.” Clearly, in your quest for A&E ratings, hatemongering won out over truth.
MEDIA WATCH
Remini’s show is entirely FAKE NEWS created by a very sick mind.
MEDIA WATCH
The show with Leah Remini that you are airing is a sham.
MEDIA WATCH
Leah Remini is using her so-called celebrity status to spew hate and misinformation on the public airwaves to suit her own ends and to defame an honorable organization.
MEDIA WATCH
I was shocked to see that A&E gave a platform for anti-religious crusader Leah Remini to spew her vile bigotry.
THE FACE OF HATE
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Faith and belief is the universal glue binding all free people. Let us not forget that many countries, including the United States of America, protect the right to that faith and belief, and not just for one religion, but for all religions. Respect the religious beliefs of others.
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LETTERS
Letter from Stephanie Rinder to Deadline Hollywood
Letter from Taryn Teutsch to Deadline Hollywood
THE STAND BLOG
