Leah Remini has spoken out about Tom Cruise’s elevated role in the Church of Scientology, insisting that he’s not an innocent victim of the controversial religion as many might believe.

In an interview with the Daily Beast, the former King of Queens star — who famously defected from Scientology and has been outspoken about the alleged abuse perpetrated by church members — claims that Cruise is aware of the church’s activities, even though members reportedly work very hard to shield him from any negative press about Scientology.

“Scientology goes to great lengths to not allow Tom to see anything disparaging about Scientology,” Remini told the Daily Beast. “They’ll go so far as, if he’s going to walk a certain place, they’ll make sure there are no magazines that are anti-Scientology, so he can’t see that.”

“I think people think [Cruise is] an innocent victim in all of this,” she said. But “where Tom is concerned, that is very different.”

“He is very aware of the abuses that go on in Scientology. He’s been part of it.”

Remini did not specify in the portion of the interview that was published in the Daily Beast on Wednesday what alleged abuses Cruise has participated in, but the full interview will appear on the site this weekend.

“He’s best friends with David Miscavige [the leader of the church], so he’s privy to the punishments that David Miscavige doles out, and I’ve been told by a senior executive of Scientology, who was there, that David Miscavige constantly threatened the staff at Gold Base [Scientology’s international headquarters] with bringing Tom Cruise to Gold Base to kick their f****** a****,” Remini said.

The actress said she was aware that Cruise had himself administered some type of punishment to another high-level Scientologist.

“He is not in the same category as the average Scientologist,” she said.

[Feature image: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein]