Going Clear Director Alex Gibney "Delighted" to See Leah Remini Speaking Out About Scientology

HBO documentary featured several celebrities

Leah Remini has been busy speaking out about Scientology in addition to releasing her new tell-all memoir, but she was noticeably absent from Alex Gibney's expository HBO documentary, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Believe, which also pulled back the curtain on the controversial religion.

Going Clear aired earlier this year and featured interviews from Paul Haggis and other notable celebrities, but Remini, who famously left the Church of Scientology in July 2013 for the sake of her daughter, opted not to participate. Shortly after it aired on the network, Remini tweeted her support.

"Thank you to the brave who did something about it. And to those who didn't have a voice, you do now. #GoingClear," she tweeted March 30.

In a new statement obtained exclusively by E! News, director Gibney reveals that Remini and other celebrities weren't ready to come forward when he was filming his documentary.

"When I was making Going Clear, I reached out to Leah Remini and other celebrities who belonged to the church of Scientology. At the time, they were not comfortable speaking on the record, (possibly because of the fear of retaliation by CoS.)," Gibney says in the statement.

"Since the release of Going Clear, I am delighted to see that there is a safer atmosphere in which Leah and, hopefully others, now feel able to speak out about past and ongoing human rights abuses."

Remini revealed on The View Tuesday why she finally felt compelled to speak out and write her book.

"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 recalled. "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."

The organization quickly took issue with Going Clear and slammed it in a statement. "The accusations made in the film are entirely false and alleged without ever asking the Church," Scientology officials said in a statement.

"The Church is committed to free speech. However, free speech is not a free pass to broadcast or publish false information."