Leah Remini Fearless In Face of Scientology Revenge

Tony Ortega has been writing incisively about Scientology since 1995 for the Village Voice, Raw Story and elsewhere. (Check out Ortega’s excellent 2paragraphs interview from 2014.) His new book is called The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper. It’s a helluva tale –and a great complement to Going Clear, the Lawrence Wright book that inspired Alex Gibney’s harrowing film. (Ortega appears in Gibney’s movie.)

Paulette Cooper, of course, isn’t the only person Scientology has tried to break. The church labels people who try to leave it “supressive person(s)” or SPs — and activates what Ortega calls its “sophisticated revenge apparatus” against them. But that didn’t stop former Scientologist Leah Remini — who’s as tough as some of the characters she plays on TV — from coming out to support Ortega and the unbreakable Cooper at an event for Miss Lovely in Los Angeles. Remini has been admirably fearless since leaving Scientology — and that doesn’t just mean her joyful stint on Dancing With The Stars a few seasons back.