Jada Pinkett Smith is no Scientologist. She’s no Jew, Hindu or Buddhist either.
The Girls Trip star, who often publicly shuts down rumours about her marriage and unique parenting style, set the record straight about her faith on Facebook in the wake of ex-Scientologist Leah Remini’s weekend claims that Pinkett Smith has “been in Scientology a long time.”
Pinkett Smith and her husband, actor Will Smith, have long been associated with Scientology, the controversial church based on the works of sci-fi author L. Ron Hubbard, but have repeatedly said they are not members.
“I recently lit Shabbat candles with Rabbi Bentley at Temple Sinai... but I am not Jewish,” Pinkett Smith began her Facebook message early Tuesday.
“I have prayed in mosques all over the world... but I am not a Muslim; I have read the Bhagavad Gita... but I am not a Hindu; I have chanted and meditated in some of the most magnificent temples on earth... but I am not a Buddhist; and I have studied Dianetics, and appreciate the merits of Study Tech... but I am not a Scientologist. I practice human kindness, and I believe that we each have the right to determine what we are and what we are not. NO ONE ELSE can hold that power.”
That brand of “human kindness” appears to have been directed at Remini, who has been crusading against the organisation since her explosive departure from the church in 2013 and recently picked up a Primetime Emmy Award for her A&E docuseries, Scientology and the Aftermath.
Pinkett Smith was the latest A-lister Remini has called out, insisting the Hawthorne alum was in deep.
“I know Jada’s in. She’s been in Scientology a long time,” Remini said. “I never saw Will [Smith] there, but I saw Jada at the Celebrity Centre. They opened up a Scientology school [called New Village Leadership Academy], and have since closed it. But Jada, I had seen her at the Scientology Celebrity Centre all the time.”
Remini added that she hoped Pinkett Smith had left Scientology but recalled a recent interview on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live” as “the telltale sign she was still in.”
Pinkett Smith appeared on Andy Cohen’s talk show in July and was asked about an anecdote from Remini’s book, Troublemaker, in which the King of Queens star recalls an unusual game of hide-and-seek at the home of high-ranking Scientologist Tom Cruise. The game, in which Remini said she declined to partake, involved Cruise, Pinkett Smith and Will Smith.
Pinkett Smith insisted Remini “lied” about the game and asserted that kids were there too.
“That was untrue,” Remini said. “There were no kids there. I was like, ‘OK, all right, you’re gonna do that? More power to ya.’ “
