The night Scientology's celebrities shined, and he reached his limit

This week, Brendan Tighe marked 13 years since he left Scientology by posting on Facebook a remarkable memory about the event when he finally reached his limit. He generously agreed to allow us to post that story here, and he added substantially more detail after we sent him some questions. Here is his account of working security for Scientology’s celebrities, and how he reached his breaking point.

Thirteen years ago I walked away from Scientology and have never once looked back.

I feel like taking the time to tell a story. Those who were there or in this environment can likely relate all too well. Nothing I’m about to say about my final straw in Scientology is in any way unique to me. And quite frankly, that is unfortunately the point.

Don’t worry, it has a happy ending.

There I was on VIP security at an exclusive banquet standing in front of shiny trophies. These were being awarded to Scientology donors who had given from $1 million to $25 million, and one couple — Bob and Trish Duggan — had donated even more. (Bob admitted years later in a press interview that they had given more than $300 million to Scientology. Bob and Trish split up in 2017, but both are still major donors.)

This banquet was in early July 2007, during the weeklong on-shore “Maiden Voyage Celebration” which commemorates the acquisition of the Freewinds, Scientology’s cruise ship that sails in the Caribbean. This was the banquet of the International Association of Scientologists (IAS) during that week of events. It was also the same week that the “Basics” were released, Scientology leader David Miscavige’s project to republish the books of L. Ron Hubbard.

The Duggans gave the single biggest donation that night of $10 million. We were told that Miscavige and Tom Cruise had personally gone to their table and urged them to make that donation, and that Tom had committed to matching it.

I remember vividly that John Travolta donated $1 million that week, and that was not considered enough and pressure was put on Kelly Preston by the President’s Office to get Travolta to donate more. I’m pretty sure he caved and gave somewhere on the order of $2.5 million at that time. The Travoltas were there at the banquet, and Jenna Elfman, Catherine Bell, Kirstie Alley, and also Katie Holmes. (She and Cruise had married the November before.)

It was also strongly rumored that Gordon Ramsay was in the building. The event was being held at The Vinoy in St. Petersburg, and it had become a fairly common practice to get celebrity or five-star chefs from around the world to serve at these big no-expense-spared IAS events. None of the chefs — including Gordon Ramsay — were Scientologists.

You wouldn’t know it from the photo (see above), but I was running on less than three hours of sleep a day for over a week and hadn’t had anything to eat all day. We were getting vitamin B shots regularly and endless doses of 5 Hour Energy to keep us going.

The shots were given to us by church MLO (medical liaison office) staff “overseen” by Dr. Brent Agin, who was the go-to doctor for the Sea Org in Clearwater at the time. He did lots of on-site “house calls” and moved his practice into downtown during the early to mid 2000s. (I assume he has cut ties with Scientology since then and his practice is now in Countryside, about ten miles away from downtown. I happened to notice his name on office signage in that area.)

By the way, the photo of me standing in front of the trophies was taken for a purpose. That was where I was actually stationed. The Security Establishment Officer (Pilar Klerk) took that picture for a “Compliance Report” showing where all the guards were positioned.

The trophies behind me were set up directly outside the banquet hall doors. This was the “red carpet” entrance into the event, a mere hundred or so feet away from where Cruise was dining.

I say this because of course Scientology’s go-to retort about me since I have left is that I was “a nobody who daydreamed about hobnobbing with celebrities but whose main duties were to watch cameras of parking lots and hallways.” Or something to that effect.

Also, keep in mind that I — along with five other security guards generally used for VIP, celebrity, and Miscavige security detail — was sent to get gun and private security licenses in preparation for this and similar events. Evidence of this can be found in public records, and both licenses were paid for with checks issued by FSO.

So, no, I wasn’t watching cameras of parking lots. Scientology had me licensed to carry a firearm so I could be used to provide security close to Tom Cruise and David Miscavige.

Anyway, although we were exhausted, at least we were offered the same food that was given to the banquet attendees by the assistant of the “celebrity chef.”

The food was offered to us because the chef wanted fresh and hot plates to go out to the banquet guests. Anything that sat for more than five minutes after being plated was considered “garbage” and thus it was offered to us. The chef was getting quite upset because he “had never served a banquet where guests didn’t stay in their seats.” I could hear him yelling from the kitchen. People kept leaving their tables to hobnob with Cruise and Miscavige. It was definitely the buzz that Cruise and Miscavige were “personally going around doing the fundraising.”

As I was about to take my first bite of food, my plate was dumped in the garbage by a Scientology executive, Heather Hoff (now Wolfe). She was the Senior Inspections and Reports Officer, indirectly over us in Security, and she was adamant that this food was not for us. I was offered a moldy sandwich in a bag to eat, and I refused to eat it for obvious reasons. (The person in charge of feeding the staff had forgotten to refrigerate them and left them out in the sun all day.)

When the event was over I was put in charge of driving the 18 or so security staff home. Everyone else appeared way more exhausted than me. Most of them had been out in the heat all day. I fortunately was in air conditioning during the event. I could barely stay awake at the wheel and ended up getting side-swiped by a semi truck on the interstate. The back driver’s side hubcap actually got stuck on to the tire bolts of the semi. It was a really close call.

The driver of the truck was a Jamaican man and he was very nice. When we pulled over all the other security guards in their tuxedos got out and he wanted to know who the groom was to congratulate, because it looked like we came from a wedding. I offered to exchange information with him but he said “No, man! I want no trouble man!” We shook hands and he drove off.

I then had to pay for the $500 repair out of my measly $50-a-week pay.

After the accident no one asked how I was doing or anything even remotely approximating normal human interactions. I was simply handed a “Driver Correction Routing Form.” (More fun Scientology jargon.) Not once did any executive or person in charge think to look at and correct the circumstances that led to this occurrence.

I thought that we would return to a “normal” schedule, but this pattern of sleep deprivation went on for three more months.

This entire series of events was the catalyst to my decision to leave. I had been born in Scientology and I’d spent 19 of my 31 years in the Sea Org, and nearly eight of those years in Security. I could no longer stand feeling so worthless no matter how hard I worked. I attempted to leave two times but was rounded up each time and brought back. The third and final time I left on Thursday at 2PM. No one even blinked as I simply walked away while one and all were distracted by their weekly statistic and money counting. (Thursday at 2PM is the Scientology equivalent to the frenzy on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.)

Fast forward all these years and Kelly is my friggin’ rock. (My mom, my sister and their husbands are all still in the Sea Org. My wife Kelly was never in Scientology.) We have the most interesting and mind-bending conversations but they have one common thread: what is best for us, our family, our children, OUR LIVES. I say mind-bending because it has taken years for me to process a lifetime of living under extreme duress. I have so many “a-ha” moments I’ve lost track. But together we own every high and every low. She has guided me through so many new thought patterns and I can honestly say I’m better for it.

— Brendan Tighe

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