Is Leah Remini’s advocacy against Scientology keeping her from an honor she deserves?

We noticed that the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce recently announced nominations are open again for the next crop of stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. That got us thinking about the names you find on Hollywood Boulevard and looking at who got stars and when. (Surely, you’ve gone down this rabbit hole yourself, right?)

And at some point, it surprised us when we realized that there was a name missing.

The King of Queens star, New York Times bestselling author, two-time Emmy Award winning producer of a hard-hitting docu-series, and in syndication with two of her shows… Leah Remini is not on the Walk of Fame?

We got even more curious when we checked with Leah’s team, and they told us that they’d nominated her for a star for the past five years in a row, and she’s been denied each time.

And looking at who has received stars in that time (and more on that below), these are big names and we think they all deserve the honor, but Leah’s resume is as good or better than many of those who were selected.

Well, you probably can figure out what our next thought was.

In her lawsuit, Leah’s attorneys have been providing stunning examples of the lengths the Church of Scientology will go to in its yearslong campaign to destroy Leah with social media smear campaigns, as well as in-person stalking and intimidation of her family members and business associates. It’s been constant and unrelenting for more than a decade, she alleges.

And given how much influence Scientology has had in Hollywood (where they are major landholders), could Leah’s highly visible work to expose Scientology’s abuses have something to do with her being repeatedly passed over for a star on the Walk of Fame?

We reached out to Ana Martinez, who handles press inquiries for the Walk of Fame, and she was a pleasure to speak with, and very helpful.

When we asked if Scientology had any influence over who is getting a star, she said it was not the case.

“It’s not true. They’re not in the room,” she says.

And just for the record, we asked if she was the “Ana Martinez” who is listed as a Patron (donation = $50,000) in Scientology’s publications. “Absolutely not,” she said. She assured us that she is not a Scientologist.

Martinez said she likes Leah Remini’s work very much, and said she hopes Leah continues to try.

“It’s a nomination process,” she says. “She does qualify. A lot of the people who are nominated do. But the committee chooses very few.”

Nominations for the class of 2025 opened on April 15, and will close on May 31. There’s a fee of $250 to nominate someone, and the nomination must not only include information about why the person qualifies, but also a note from the nominee themselves (or their management) agreeing to being nominated and promising to attend the star unveiling if they are chosen.

Oh, and there’s also the matter of promising to pay $75,000 if the person is chosen, to cover the costs of the ceremony.

Nominations can be made in six different categories: Motion Pictures, Television, Radio, Recording, Live Theatre/Performance, and Sports Entertainment.

Martinez says that the committee receives a couple of hundred nominations each year, and selects only 20 or 30. So there are always going to be people who qualify but who are not selected.

The committee that actually chooses the winners is made up of previous awardees in each category. Only the identity of the committee’s chairperson, radio personality Ellen K, is known. The others are kept secret, so there’s no way of knowing who is on the committee that represents television.

Here are the five most recent classes in the television category:

2020: Christina Applegate, Andy Cohen, Cindy Crawford, Terry Crews, Harry Friedman, Kathie Lee Gifford, Nigel Lythgoe, Milo Ventimiglia, Burt Ward, Wendy Williams, Dr. Phil McGraw, Andy Kaufman (Posthumous)

2021: Nick Cannon, Courteney Cox, Marla Gibbs, Jenifer Lewis, Laura Linney, Judge Greg Mathis, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Sarah Paulson, Peter Roth, Christian Slater

2022: Byron Allen, Greg Berlanti, Ricky Gervais, Peter Krause, Bob Odenkirk, Holly Robinson-Peete, Norman Reedus, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jean Smart, Ming-Na Wen, Kenan Thompson

2023: Jon Favreau, Mindy Kaling, Martin Lawrence, Ralph Macchio, Garrett Morris, Ellen Pompeo

2024: Ken Jeong, Eugene Levy, Mario Lopez, Raul De Molina and Lili Estefan (El Gordo y La Flaca), Jim Nantz, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Michael Schur, Kerry Washington

That’s a total of 48 people who received stars in the television category in the last five years, 30 men and 18 women.

Like we said, there are some great names here. But Leah Remini’s resume seems to stack up pretty well, doesn’t it?

Not only is The King of Queens in syndication 20 years after it first aired, but Leah’s current game show, People Puzzler, is also in syndication. Leah, 53, has been working consistently since she arrived in Hollywood at 16, demonstrating the lasting success that the committee is usually looking for. She’s also author of a number one New York Times bestseller, her memoir Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology, and she won two Emmy Awards as creator, producer, and host of her A&E series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath. She’s also won a Producers’ Guild award, a Critics Choice award, a Truth to Power award to name a few.

We’ve documented how Scientology’s influence in Hollywood has waned since it peaked in the 1990s, and increasingly we’re seeing television shows take shots at David Miscavige’s organization, which had previously gripped the town with fear of speaking out about it.

But the ties between the church and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which owns the Walk of Fame, have apparently remained in place. In 2016, when Miscavige opened the church’s large new studio, Scientology Media Productions, after renovating the old KCET complex on Sunset Boulevard, one of the speakers at the grand opening was Leron Gubler, who was then president of the Chamber.

“What happens here today carries a lot of weight. People are watching Hollywood and people take notice of what the Church does,” Gubler said. “And you are not only putting an anchor here. But you are providing outstanding opportunities to writers, directors and all manner of creative professionals to thrive in this unique environment. So let’s work together to take Hollywood to even greater heights.”

Does Leah Remini have a chance at a star on the Walk of Fame if the president of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce had such glowing things to say about the Church of Scientology?

That was eight years ago. Have things changed? What better way for Hollywood to make a statement about its freedom from Scientology’s toxic influence than to recognize Leah Remini for her star power and her resilience.

“Please tell her to try again,” Martinez told us.

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