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Church of Scientology Criticizes A&E for Canceling KKK Docuseries While Promoting Leah Remini’s Show

The Church states that "it's hypocritical" of the network to promote Remini's series which "promotes hatred that A&E claims it wants to stop."
Church of Scientology
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Last week A&E canceled their Ku Klux Klan docuseries, “Escaping the KKK,” after producers admitted that the participants were paid, which according to the network is a “direct violation of A&E’s policies and practices for a documentary.”

Now, the Church of Scientology is criticizing the network for pulling the KKK show but not canceling its Leah Remini anti-Scientology series, “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.”

In a letter obtained by TMZ, the Church’s lawyer, Gary Soter, stated that the “Church of Scientology understands that two on-air accusers/participants in Leah Remini’s docuseries, ‘Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath’ received substantial cash payments for their participation, in violation of the same standards.”

READ MORE: A&E Cancels Ku Klux Klan Series After It Stumbles with Another Holiday Headache

It then accuses A&E of being hypocrites and partnering and promoting Remini’s show, giving them “free advertising and promotion for anti-Scientology books they have published.”

“It is hypocritical for A&E to proclaim its intent to ‘expose and combat racism and hatred in all its forms’ in cancelling the KKK show and at the same time promote Leah Remini’s program which promotes hatred that A&E claims that it wants to stop,” he added.

According to an official at the network, the difference in the projects is that Remini is an executive producer on her show and she’s “not the member of a hate group,” reports TMZ. A source also told Variety, “It’s a different animal. It’s apples and oranges.”

A&E had recently changed the name of the series from “Generation KKK” to “Escaping the KKK” in an effort to ensure that no one mistook the docuseries’ intent and that the title alone didn’t normalize the Klan. After discovering that participants on the show, including Klan members, were paid to participate by production company This Is Just A Test, they scrapped the project.

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