Leah Remini Reveals Estranged Father Died 1 Month Ago: ‘We Had No Idea’
Sept. 23 2019, Updated 6:22 p.m. ET
Leah Remini is mourning the death of her estranged father and opening up about their broken relationship.
This Sunday, September 22, the anti-Scientology activist, 49, shared an emotional Instagram post about her dad’s passing, revealing that he died one month ago, without her or her sister knowing.
“On Friday, I received a message from my sister Nicole, who had been contacted by a stranger passing on his condolences for the passing of our father, George Anthony Remini. We had no idea that he had died a month ago. We weren’t aware that he had been sick leading up to his death. A funeral came and went and none of us knew anything about it. We were not able to say goodbye,” she wrote alongside a series of old family photos.
Leah added that while her relationship with her father was certainly complicated, she had hoped that one day all would be well between them.
“He was not able to redeem himself, to ask for forgiveness for his failures and hurts, to become a better man to those of us who couldn’t help but love him,” Leah wrote. “If you read my book, you’ll know my father and I had a difficult relationship, but I always forgave him with a daughter’s painfully endless love and hope. Regardless of his neglect and abuse, I had hoped to one day have some closure. I hoped for him to acknowledge who he had been and what he had done to us as his children. That alone would have been healing in its own way. We never got that, yet I can’t help but grieve.”
In 2017, Leah tweeted about her father, saying “My real dad left his wife and young daughters with no care, no child support & was physically and mentally abusive to my sisters.” In her book, “Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology” she claimed that George sold cocaine and served time at Rikers Island.
George also slammed his famous daughter, even participating in a video discrediting her A&E series, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath. In the clip, he accused Leah of being a hypocrite and ignoring her family while helping Scientology victims.
In her post after her dad’s death, Leah revealed she’s “angry at myself for crying for someone who didn’t ever cry for me.”
“I am angry that I still wanted this man’s love, I’m angry that the last chapter in our relationship was dictated by Scientology. Scientology took my dad in as a pawn against me and likely robbed him of any last ounce of heart that might have been left in him. I’m angry that Scientology found his personal weak spots and got him on board not with their beliefs but with their smear campaign against me,” she added.
She explained that the last image she got of her dad was when he spoke ill of her in the Scientology video. But regardless of how hurt she was by his alleged betrayal, "I would have forgiven him as I always did," Leah wrote.
“The little girls inside of my sisters and me will never forgive Scientology for taking away our last chance to have the one thing we always wanted from our father... And that was for him to say ‘I’m sorry and I loved you,'" concluded Leah.
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"Leah Remini blames everyone but herself for destroying her relationships. It's beyond hypocritical. She was estranged from her father, who was never a member of the religion, for years and now even exploits his sad passing for tabloid attention. Hate consumes her. She has caused hundreds of threats of violence and even a death. She has blood on her hands," said the church of Scientology in a statement to Radar.
