Rather than let the matter rest, Leah Remini is choosing to remain staunch in her claims that Jada Pinkett Smith is a member of the Church of Scientology despite Pinkett Smith’s reticence to claim involvement or even align herself with the church in any manner. Remini’s exit from Scientology and creation of the award-winning documentary on the truth about the religion have made her one of the most outspoken figures on Scientology. Given this, Remini’s claims about Pinkett Smith are all the more intriguing and unusual, especially because Pinkett Smith remains private about her personal life to an extent and has never been publicly involved with Scientology. It’s tough to know who is right here, especially considering Remini has proven a credible source of information about other aspects of Scientology.
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In Remini’s new book, Troublemaker, she details an incident in which she was allegedly at a gathering (it’s unclear if it was just Scientology members or mixed company) where prominent Scientologist Tom Cruise suggested playing hide and seek. Finding it odd Cruise would want a group of adults to play a game meant for children, Remini tried to decline. During this incident, Remini made mention of Pinkett Smith’s attendance, seemingly implying she was a member of Scientology.
Remini has even gone on the record explicitly claiming Pinkett Smith is part of the Church of Scientology to The Daily Beast. “I know Jada’s in. I know Jada’s in. She’s been in Scientology a long time. I never saw Will [Smith] there, but I saw Jada at the Celebrity Centre. They opened up a Scientology school, and have since closed it. But Jada, I had seen her at the Scientology Celebrity Centre all the time.”
When asked about whether this really happened by Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen, Pinkett Smith flat-out denied any Scientology connections, instead saying this happened with her children and Cruise’s children years ago. “This is when our kids were really small,” she told Cohen. “And Tom loved games — that was the whole point. Tom was just fun like that. So I know [Remini] kinda made it seem kinda weird, but it really wasn’t. It was just a bunch of us goofing off with our kids.”
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Pinkett Smith took things one step further in settling this matter by tweeting out that while she may have studied Scientology to some extent, it was no more than her interest and study in other religions. As such, there is no clear evidence that she is a total Scientologist; rather, she is simply cultivating an interest in a wide range of religions.
I have studied Dianetics, and appreciate the merits of Study Tech… but I am not a Scientologist.
— Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) September 19, 2017
For Pinkett Smith, the only ideology she adheres to devoutly is human kindness, which she also made clear in her clarification tweets.
I practice human kindness, and I believe that we each have the right to determine what we are and what we are not.
— Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) September 19, 2017
What should we all take from this? Probably that it’s just unfortunate the issue is being pursued so much. Even in that interview with Cohen, it’s evident Pinkett Smith wants to put the topic to bed — and honestly, if someone wants to keep their religious beliefs private, shouldn’t they be able to? She shouldn’t be forced to disclose private information simply because someone is continuing to push a discussion that she clearly doesn’t want to pursue.
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While the public may not have an answer to the most burning question in this story — whether Pinkett Smith is actually a Scientologist — what’s clear is this story is a little difficult to completely confirm. Remini might want to let this topic drop, because it doesn’t look like anyone will back her up anytime soon.
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