Leah Remini posts longer, more detailed remembrance of Mike Rinder

Last night, Leah Remini posted a longer, more detailed remembrance of her Scientology and the Aftermath co-star Mike Rinder at her Substack, several days after her first posting following his January 5 death from cancer.

It’s an emotional tribute, and we appreciated the new glimpses that Leah provides about her days before deciding to emerge from Scientology in 2013, three years before she and Mike began their A&E television series.

Mike had defected from Scientology in 2007, and had been a part of the group of former church executives who spoke to the Tampa Bay Times for their epic 2009 series, “The Truth Rundown.”

Leah had watched that happen, but in 2013 she was still technically in Scientology when she reached out to Mike to talk to him about the things he was saying about it.

In 2013, I didn’t yet know how Mike had escaped his abusers and what he and others had endured. I knew almost nothing about him beyond what Scientology had told me, but even that limited knowledge made the act of calling him terrifying. I knew I was breaking Scientology law, committing a High Crime by speaking to someone they labeled an “enemy.” At that time, I wasn’t even publicly out of Scientology (another High Crime), and Mike Rinder was considered David Miscavige’s Enemy Number One.

But all the fear, the indoctrination, the years of being trained to hate and destroy those who left Scientology—it all dissolved the moment Mike answered the phone. The first words he said to me were, “Hello, sweetheart, how are you holding up?”

In that instant, my armor shattered, and I burst into tears. I allowed myself to be vulnerable in a way I never had before and have rarely been since. But with Mike, I felt safe. I have never felt safer than when I was by Mike’s side.

I suspect I never will again.

What an incredible moment that must have been, and we’re glad that Leah has shared it with us, as so many of us are also coming to grips with going forward without Mike Rinder around.

It’s been difficult, knowing that he won’t be there to answer so patiently the many questions we threw at him, month after month. As Leah points out, he was so completely dedicated to helping others.

There was not a call Mike didn’t take, an email he didn’t respond to for someone who needed him. There was not a lawsuit he wasn’t willing to help with, a case he wasn’t willing to assist on—for free. Mike met with every agency he could, turned over every document—several times. Mike would meet and talk to anyone if he thought it would help end the criminal organization that is Scientology.

And when I asked Mike to do The Aftermath with me, all I told him was that it was to be a documentary series to expose Scientology. I said I didn’t exactly know what it would be or how much he would be paid. He cut me off and said, “If it helps, I’m in—and I don’t care about the money.” And the same was true for our podcast.

Mike didn’t care about titles or money. He cared about the work, despite the cost to his own well-being and peace.

Please give Leah’s piece a good look. We’re interested in your thoughts on the various points she brings up.

This has been an ongoing process for so many of us, and we want to thank Leah for putting into words some of the things we’ve been feeling.

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A recommendation from your proprietor

Substack has held a couple of mixers in recent months for some of us who slave away spilling digital ink. Last month, we were particularly grateful that an invite tempted us out of our hole in the ground because we ran into a couple of old friends we had known in Los Angeles who are now living here in New York.

Nancy Rommelman is a writer we have long admired, and after we ran into her at the Substack event she was kind enough to send us a copy of her newest book, an anthology of pieces from her days when she was writing at LA Weekly in the 1990s.

We devoured Forty Bucks and a Dream, remembering not only what a kickass journalist and fine writer Nancy is, but also recalling what it was about the alt-weeklies in the 1990s that made us want to be a part of one.

The variety of short pieces in this book is astonishing, and we’re not sure which one was our favorite. The interview with the young actress who could only succeed by casting off her grifter of a mother? The incredible and unlikely backstory of the homeless woman who was run over by a car at the beach? The scene at the cop bar during the Rampart scandal? The previous catfishing by JT Leroy’s creator that wasn’t so well known?

Nancy’s reporting digs into the Los Angeles dream in such a penetrating and insightful way. It’s been really something to read as the town is literally going up in flames.

Amazing stuff. Grab a copy at Amazon.

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For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:

Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain

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