Ballantine BooksLeah Remini is putting her foot down publicly in defense of her newly released Scientology tell-all.
After taking her seat at The View's table Tuesday morning, the former King of Queens actress explained her reasoning for penning the highly publicized chronicle, Troublemaker, which details her life as a member of the Church of Scientology.
"It was six years of questioning and I just could no longer subscribe to what I was part of for most of my life," she recounted. "You should be able to question an organization that you've been faithful to...when you ask those questions you shouldn't then be punished. That was occurring."
The 45-year-old mother, who had spent over 30 years of her life as a parishioner before leaving in 2013, also offered a response to the church, which issued a statement obtained by E! News saying she was actually expelled.
"Leah Remini knows the truth she conveniently rewrites in her revisionist history. 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. Her repeated ethical lapses and callous treatment of others led to an ecclesiastical review which resulted in her being expelled," an excerpt from the statement reads.
"It's the game I guess, which I don't really want to be part of," Remini said in response, later adding. "I know the policy of the church when someone speaks out publicly against them, so I know how they deal with people like me and so, they would take something out of context or in my confessions and then put that on the streets."
Instead of remaining silent, Remini opted to make a public statement to caution others who she felt may eventually experience similar ostracizing.
"You're OK to leave, just don't talk about it...I could've left and after reading hundreds of stories of heartbreak, I was like, 'OK, I'm not crazy. This is happening other to people.' I felt they needed to know," she said. "I gotta be public."
While the memoir may have unearthed conflict between Remini and her former faith, she's focused on what lies ahead.
"They do [come after you]. The thing is you can't be afraid. I'm not afraid," she said. "My story's been told. It's my story....It's OK. I'm here. I'm happy. I have my family. I'm moving on with my life. I wrote a damn book."
For those who opt to leave the church quietly, according to Remini, "you stand for nothing."
While her claims do not shine the brightest light on the controversial religion, Remini insists her new book is not about bashing the church and does credit it with shaping the woman she is now. "We learned things like communication and courses instead of doing things that children were doing, so I can't take away some of the positives because it made me who I am today," she said.
As for her former fellow churchgoers, Remini manages to see the strengths that initially attracted her mother to the church when she was a child.
"They're good people," she said. "They believe they're doing something good for themselves for their families and for the world."
In regard to prominent member Tom Cruise, she aims to be fair.
"Tom Cruise is Tom Cruise. I respect him as that. When you're in the church, we're on the same team and we're doing the same work and you're going to abide by the same policies that most people do."
As for her faith today, Remini says she along with her husband, Angelo Pagan, and daughter, Sofia Pagan, 11, have moved forward with her in the Catholic faith.
"My daughter was never a member [of the Church of Scientology], " she said, fearing that her only child would eventually be loyal to the church and not to her. "I never did indoctrinate her...I didn't want this for her."
After years apart from Cruise and his former wife and member Katie Holmes, Remini can also identify a similar struggle for the fellow mom.
"I now see how hard things must have been for her and I'm so happy to see her and her daughter doing so well," she told People. "I feel a kinship with her as a mother who wants do the right things for their child."
While the women conflicted within the Scientology community, Remini says she has newfound feelings toward her.
"I went from being very angry with Katie Holmes while she was in the church because she wrote these reports...then she leaves and I thought, 'that's a ballsy move...as a mother, I respect what she did.'"