Leah Remini got visibly emotional on Monday when discussing her relationship with Katie Holmes and the Church of Scientology.
While appearing on “Good Morning America,” the actress teared when claiming that Holmes wrote what Scientology calls a “knowledge report” about her behavior at Holmes’ wedding to Tom Cruise.
“It makes me emotional because at that time that Katie and this particular crew were writing reports it caused me a lot of time and pain and my family being reprogrammed,” Remini said.
She’s busy promoting her new book, “Troublemaker,” which details her decision to split with the church after 30 years. The former “King of Queens” star went on to say she now understands what Holmes was going through, since the “Dawson’s Creek” actress also left Scientology shortly after her divorce from Cruise.
“At the time I was fighting with her, for lack of a better word, within the Church and now I know really what she was going through,” Remini said. “At the time I was thinking of myself and my family and what we were going through, and although painful, I had no idea she was going through probably a lot more.”
“Seeing her and Suri out there in the world and her being able to be with her daughter and live her life, I’m touched by it,” she continued. “I’m touched by it because I now know she did what she did, leaving in the way she did, because she had to protect her daughter, which in a way connects us.”
Remini pulled no punches in a “20/20” interview on Friday regarding the Church, revealing that she was punished for telling Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes to “get a room.” Remini also said she was asked to bring along her friend Jennifer Lopez to Cruise and Holmes’ wedding, presumably to convert her to Scientology.
The Church has denied all of Remini’s allegations, releasing a statement claiming everything in her book is false.
“Leah Remini knows the truth she conveniently rewrites in her revisionist history,” the statement reads in part. “The real story is that she desperately tried to remain a Scientologist in 2013, knowing full well she was on the verge of being expelled for refusing to abide by the high level of ethics and decency Scientologists are expected to maintain.”