Mike Rinder, Scientology whistleblower and defector, dies at 69

Mike Rinder, a former Scientologist who defected from the organization and went on to co-host a docuseries with actress and fellow former Scientologist Leah Remini, has died. He was 69 years old.

Rinder, born in Australia, passed away Sunday in Pinellas County after a battle with esophageal cancer.

Rinder climbed to some of the highest ranks within Scientology, working alongside leader David Miscavige as a top church spokesperson. He joined the church as a child along with his parents who, despite his acceptance into the University of Adelaide, pushed him to instead join the elite Scientology group Sea Org, which traveled with Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Rinder was a top source for the paper in its three-part series revealing abuse and other rituals used to keep church critics at bay, called “The Truth Rundown.” He led Scientology’s Office of Special Affairs and was one of the church’s most prominent spokespeople.

But the job took its toll, Rinder explained in a book, “A Billion Years,” which he penned in 2022 long after defecting from the organization.

“My days were endless, crammed with keeping track of Scientology’s enemies, conducting programs to neutralize them, putting out fires on the internet, and dealing with the constant celebrity issues,” Rinder wrote, according to the Times.

After he escaped the church, Rinder went public detailing abuses he suffered, including spending years in “The Hole,” a detention center located in California where high-ranking members suffered torture, were given only scraps of food to eat and often slept under desks.

Rinder escaped Scientology in 2007, fleeing first to London, then to Central Florida, Virginia, and eventually Colorado, before moving back to Florida. In his defection, Rinder suffered some of what he had previously helped orchestrate. The church found him in Colorado and reportedly sent lawyers to threaten him and investigators to keep tabs on his whereabouts. Rinder described in his book how the church rented an apartment across the street from him and surveilled him 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

In his defection, Rinder left behind a wife and two children he had hoped would come with him, but instead “disconnected” from him, a term used when a member of a Scientology family leaves the organization, but the rest of the family does not.

Rinder later married his now-surviving wife, Christie Collbran, who was a fellow Sea Org member who also defected. They lived in Palm Harbor, not far from Scientology’s Clearwater base, where together they raised Collbran’s son, Shane, and their own child, Jack.

Rinder shared a farewell message on his blog announcing his death.

“This is the last post on this site,” he wrote. “I have shuffled off this mortal coil in accordance with the immutable law that there are only two certainties in life: death and taxes.”

Rinder explained in his final post that the site will remain active, archiving its more than 4,000 posts and some 300,000 comments.

“My only real regret is not having achieved what I said I wanted to — ending the abuses of Scientology, especially disconnection and seeing Jack into adulthood. If you are in any way fighting to end those abuses please keep the flag flying — never give up,” he wrote.

He called on his supporters to “help Christie and the boys to move forward into the next chapter of their lives.”

Rinder also asked that, in lieu of flowers, supporters “instead contribute to Jack’s family college fund.”

One of Rinder’s top legacies will be his work with Remini on the three-season series “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath,” which won two Emmys.

Rinder also co-founded the Aftermath Foundation, which works to support individuals trying to escape Scientology.

His book also offers a message to his estranged children, Taryn and Benjamin, who remain involved in the church. His message to them was similar to the one he shared with a larger audience in his work uncovering the ills of Scientology, that “it is never too late to start over.”