With her first nomination, Leah Remini stopped Anthony Bourdain’s four-year Emmy winning streak cold when she took home to Emmy for Best Informational Series or Special on Saturday for A&E’s Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.
Remini’s mom was in the audience to watch her daughter pick up her first Emmy.
“Mom, thank you. You are officially forgiven for getting us into a cult,” the former King of Queens actress joked.
Remini dedicated the Emmy to “our brave contributors who, despite ongoing risk and repercussion, spoke out and told their stories” and to A&E for the support.
Leah Remini in Tears, ‘Very Grateful’ Over Scientology and the Aftermath Emmy Win
The show’s second season premiered on Aug. 15 after a successful inaugural season exploring facets of Scientology through stories told by former Scientology member or others who have been impacted by the —what some call —cult.
Backstage, Remini said that exposing viewers to stories about Scientology is the right thing, saying, “as an actress, you want to get an Emmy nom or win an Emmy” but, as she got older and “realized what’s really important” is “more about doing the right things.”
Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath 2017 Emmy Awards Press Room Winner Interview
Remini’s show also won an award from the Television Critics Association in August.
“I spent most of my life being told the world outside Scientology would fail me, that I would fail, and that without it I wasn’t worth a whole lot,” she told critics at the ceremony. “I thank you for proving those theories wrong.”
2017 Television Critics Association Awards Winners – Leah Remini
Remini joked that she had always hoped to win an award for comedy and she might have the chance. CBS killed off Erinn Hayes’ character before the second season of Kevin Can Wait, and then cast Kevin James’ former King of Queens TV wife, Remini, in a series regular role.
