Leah Remini Tackles Jehovah’s Witnesses in Next A&E Project

Leah Remini has inked a new deal with A&E to produce a series focused on Jehovah’s Witnesses.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Leah Remini is keeping her sights focused on religion for her next project on A&E, with sources claiming that she is set to produce a special for the network that focuses on Jehovah’s Witnesses, a religion that has faced criticism for some of their practices, such as shunning members who have dissenting views, refusing to participate in politics and government, and multiple failed predictions of Armageddon.

The project will be Remini’s first under her first-look deal with A&E, which she inked back in April.

It was reported in December that Remini’s current series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath would dissect other cults in its third season, with reports claiming that one episode concentrate on Nxivm, a controversial self-empowerment group, while another would focus on Jehovah’s Witnesses.

However, in May, Remini teased that she and her team have several projects currently on the company’s slate, meaning that similar docuseries could come in the future.

News of the series comes just months after Remini’s documentary-style series on Scientology was renewed for a third season at the network.

The Emmy-winning series, which provides an in-depth look at the religion, which Remini once belonged to, will reportedly take a different direction for its third season, with executive producer Aaron Saidman revealing that the docuseries will shift focus to the Church of Scientology’s tax-exempt status and “to go right after the heart of the church’s power and resources and challenge fundamentally the foundation upon which they stand.”

Remini grew up a Scientologist, eventually leaving the organization in 2013 after questioning leader David Miscavige and claiming the religion is abusive of its members physically, sexually and financially. She went on to publish a book about her experience, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology, and has since crusaded against the organization.

However, the Church of Scientology has denied all of her claims, with church spokeswoman Karin Pouw stating “Leah Remini continues to foment anti-religious bigotry and will do so as long as the media acts as her enablers in monetizing her bias and hatred.”

Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath is being joined by four other new non-fiction programs on the network, who believes that it has found the right formula for its success.

“We doubled down on what we do best,” said Elaine Frontain Bryant, A&E’s EVP and head of programming, on the network’s renewed focus on unscripted content. “Our bread and butter has always been high-quality nonfiction that has this kind of emotionally intelligent, boundary-pushing, trailblazing storytelling. We believe that we have always been in this place that speaks to the cultural zeitgeist.”