Leah Remini offered a rare insight into her friendship with Jennifer Lopez — including where they stand today.
In her Us Weekly‘s cover story, Remini, 54, revealed when she got in touch with Lopez, 55, again, saying, “Right after the divorce, we’d text each other loving messages of support.”
Remini, who went through her split from husband Angelo Pagán at the time, clarified that there was never a rift between her and Lopez. “Sometimes you don’t talk to people every day like you used to, but that doesn’t mean the love is lost,” she added. “Friendships
ebb and flow. That doesn’t mean we’re at odds.”
According to Remini, she is “in a different place” in her life 12 years after leaving Scientology.(Lopez, for her part, finalized her divorce from Ben Affleck earlier this year.)
“I really retreated [after leaving],” she said. “But also not really wanting to leave the house that much. I started to come out a bit but was still careful and cautious.”
Remini continued: “I cherish my friendships and not everybody is meant to be in your life in the way that they were. When you grow out of that person that you were, that doesn’t mean that you are at odds with them. I have many friends that I don’t talk to every day. That doesn’t mean we’re at odds — it’s just that I’m at a different place and so are they.”
Remini and Lopez formed a friendship in 2004 after meeting at an event. At the time, Lopez was dating Marc Anthony, with whom she shares 17-year-old twins Max and Emme. Remini and Lopez remained close for decades amid changes in the singer’s personal life. After her split from Anthony, 56, in 2011, Lopez was engaged to Alex Rodriguez before reconnecting with former fiancé Affleck, 52, in 2021.
When Lopez married Affleck in 2022, Remini was not in attendance, which led to speculation of a falling out. Remini was reportedly unable to make the nuptials because she was moving her and Pagán’s now-20-year-old daughter, Sofia, into college.
“I have friends that are not in the business that are also meaningful,” Remini told Us before opening up about her bond with TV personality and host Michelle Visage. “Michelle and I talk on FaceTime for an hour every morning — we catch up on what’s going on with our bodies. I want to do a podcast with her just because I want her to never have to leave the house [and] my side.”
Remini described her girlfriends, who she spends hours with going from “crying to laughing,” are “a lifeline,” including Holly Robinson, Tisha Campbell and Chelsea Handler.
“I get together with Holly and Tisha and we’re on a [text] chain. There’s a side of Chelsea that people don’t know. She’s one of the most loving and caring people,” she added. “I mean, she will talk to [my daughter] Sofia for hours. She will go out of her way to visit Sofia in New York. She’s known Sofia since she’s in diapers, you know? And the same with Michelle Visage. These people have been wonderful.”
Remini also said ballroom dance has been a big outlet for her since her 2013 appearance on Dancing with the Stars.
“Tony Dovolani made me a fan,” she said of her celebrity partner. “I kept it going. And then my dance teacher became part of the family. He came over yesterday, brought my mom flowers and her friend Jackie wine … This, to me, means something. It’s a meaningful relationship. And for my birthday, I’ll have dinner and [invite] people that I haven’t seen all year, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t love them, Julie and Les Moonves, [for example], we’re still friends today. I have great friends.
For more on Leah Remini, watch the exclusive video above and pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly — on newsstands now.
