Leah Remini: Abuse and the Aftermath

Reports of Leah Remini’s verbal assaults, “huge ego” and push for a raise plagued production of her cable TV show and continued in its aftermath.

Leah Remini and Mike Rinder on an “Aftermath” set in 2017, as reports of Remini’s abusive conduct churned behind the scenes. — Leah Remini and Mike Rinder on an *Aftermath* set in 2017, as reports of Remini’s abusive conduct churned behind the scenes.

“I don’t like your f—king people and your crew are a bunch of assholes and a bunch of Jews, and they’re just trying to make a dollar. I want this to be my show.”

According to an industry insider, that anti-Semitic snarl was the introduction a producer received from Leah Remini in 2017 when he first met the actress during production for season two of her since-canceled A&E cable TV show, Scientology and the Aftermath.

The producer was among the multitude brought on to fill the gaps after more than two-thirds of the original producers and crew jumped ship or lost jobs from budget cuts following season one. Per industry tracking information, the exodus included more than half of the producers, two-thirds of the sound department, three-fourths of makeup and the entire camera department.

“She likes to rip people apart. She likes to pick on them and say, ‘You f—ked this up, you screwed this up.’” — AFTERMATH PRODUCER per industry insider

In an industry where jobs are often hard to come by, word was that most of those who worked with Remini quit and that she caused people to have “panic attacks.”

According to the imparted account from the producer, “She likes to rip people apart. She likes to pick on them and say, ‘You f—ked this up, you screwed this up.’”

After requiring new crew for the second season, there was high turnover again into the third season, followed by more problems.

Leah Remini: A “total nightmare” to work with — **A “TOTAL NIGHTMARE” TO WORK WITH:** Turmoil escalated around Leah Remini’s show as stories of her abusive conduct, toxicity on set and excessive job turnovers circulated Hollywood.

A February 2019 Radar Online headline touched on the behind-scenes turmoil: “‘Diva’ Leah Remini In Danger Of Being Sacked From Own Show! ‘She’s a total nightmare to work with.’”

“[She] has a huge ego that’s become unbearable,” one source in that story said. The article reported that Remini extracted a “huge” pay raise from the show’s producers even though she was told that people would lose their jobs, as they had to cut production staff to afford it.

“Fine, just cut the budget!” Leah replied.

After Remini’s show was canceled in the troubled third season, she continued to complain about money.

“I can make more money in one f—king day doing acting, selling douches or tampons, than in the whole f—king three seasons,” Remini groused on a podcast in 2020.

An associate of post-production staff weighed in on the poisonous atmosphere Remini generated.

“The turnover on the show is all because of her,” they posted on Twitter after the show was off A&E. “She fires everyone. We know 4 people who worked in post on your show. One of them is in our family. She’s [Leah’s] a screamer and a nightmare. Everyone in Hollywood knows.…Just wait. Stories will come from producers and editors.”

Those stories did come.

A producer’s associate related that one female crew member, unable to conceive, consulted a doctor who bluntly told her the reason was stress. The woman walked away from Aftermath.

“It was clearly stress, so she actually quit the show so she could calm down and try to have a normal, healthy pregnancy,” the associate said.

A member of the Aftermath production crew reported that Remini fired two women involved in the show, one Black and one Asian, because she “didn’t want to work with them,” and used another Black woman, a production assistant, as a cleaner, contrary to the PA’s job. Word on the set, the crew member said, was “Leah was being racist.”

“BTW, I’m sure APA is thrilled Leah is gone. Everyone knows her reputation.” — DEADLINE COMMENTER

Remini also reportedly segregated herself from the crew, prohibiting them from approaching her side of the building. “We weren’t allowed to walk by even,” the source said.

Another source, posting on an online forum, said they learned from the Aftermath showrunner that “The leading actress” on the show “would yell and swear at people repeatedly. One time she ripped someone a new one in front of the entire production crew and embarrassed the living hell out of him.”

Even a cameraman sent to shoot one of Scientology’s Los Angeles churches was quick to share with a Church representative, “Leah is an unpleasant person. She’s difficult to get along with.”

After Aftermath was canceled by A&E, Remini downsized from talent mega-agency APA (Agency for the Performing Arts) to the significantly smaller agency Verve.

A commenter on Deadline noted, “BTW, I’m sure APA is thrilled Leah is gone. Everyone knows her reputation, APA accomplished so much for her, and Verve has zero clue what they are in for. Zero.”

As industry accounts continue to confirm, Leah Remini’s reputation has outlived the aftermath of Aftermath.