Leah Remini Says She Just Learned Her Father Died Weeks Ago: 'Scientology Took My Dad'

Leah Remini is getting real about something unimaginable: her father, George Anthony Remini, passed away weeks ago without her or any other family members knowing, or ever being told.

Furthermore, the King of Queens actress is placing the blame for that, um, miscommunication squarely at the feet of the Church of Scientology, who she claims “took my dad” in a new, emotional social media message about his death.

Late Sunday evening, Remini shared a series of old photos of her family with her followers on Instagram, while explaining in the caption what happened, how they found out, and where they go from here.

These are the nostalgic family pics (below):

View this post on Instagram

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. 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. 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. I am 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. That was his last presence in my life. Knowing my father, after taking the offer from Scientology to betray me, he wouldn’t have thought that he could ever come back from that in our relationship. If he thought that, though, he would have been wrong. I would have forgiven him as I always did. 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.”

A post shared by Leah Remini (@leahremini) on Sep 22, 2019 at 7:02pm PDT

And that caption is key, of course — it reads (below):

“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. 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. 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. I am 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.”

She continued on (below):

“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. That was his last presence in my life. Knowing my father, after taking the offer from Scientology to betray me, he wouldn’t have thought that he could ever come back from that in our relationship. If he thought that, though, he would have been wrong. I would have forgiven him as I always did. 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.”

Wow…

Obviously, Remini has been remarkably outspoken about Scientology over the past several years, and this case is no different in that regard. Sadly, though, it’s even more personal for her, as she was never able to give her father a proper goodbye — or even try to iron out their relationship before his death. Ugh.

Our hearts are with Leah and the rest of her family — and all her father’s friends and loved ones — as they grieve this most unexpected and unfortunate loss.

So sad.

[Image via WENN]