The Church of Scientology will have much more to be upset about in the coming months, because Leah Remini’s A&E series about Scientology is getting a second season.
Since leaving Scientology four years ago, Remini has devoted much of her time to publicly indicting everything about the Church, much to their displeasure. Season 2 of Scientology and the Aftermath will feature 10 more episodes of Remini’s work, largely interviewing former Scientologists who describe harrowing experiences within the Church. Though much of its looniness has already been exposed, season 1 apparently brought Scientology critics out of the woodworks.
Via The Hollywood Reporter:
There should be no shortage of new material: Remini says people started lining up to participate as soon as the first season premiered — thanks, in particular, to involvement from former Scientology official Mike Rinder. He departed the church in 2007, appeared in all of season one’s episodes and is credited as a consultant on the show. Remini says Rinder now gets hundreds of emails a day from other defectors.
“The way the organization has responded without taking responsibility for what they do to people, I need to continue,” said Remini. “It would be another [scenario] if they stopped trying to discredit everyone’s stories and said, ‘If you don’t like it, don’t be part of Scientology.’”
For its part, the Church wasted no time trashing Remini and A&E, resorting to its usual bullying tactics:
While A+E Networks topper Nancy Dubuc said in January that she had been trolled on Facebook over the show, suggesting the church had paid for negative comments, Remini, 46, insists her reception on social media has been overwhelmingly positive.
In a lengthy statement to THR, the Church of Scientology claims Remini’s show has been tainted by payments made to people appearing onscreen, comparing it to another A&E docuseries, Generation KKK, which was scrapped earlier this year after the network admitted producers paid some participants. “Real transparency would be for A&E to detail all forms of compensation made to sources spreading religious hate and bigotry on Leah Remini’s show,” the Church says.
A&E is said to be pushing for Emmy consideration for the series, which would likely further perturb Scientology higher-ups.