Michael John Rinder (born April 10, 1955) is an Australian-American former senior executive of the Church of Scientology International (CSI) and the Sea Organization based in the United States.
Rinder was born in Adelaide, Australia, to Ian and Barbara Rinder in 1955.
When he was 5 years old his parents became interested in Scientology and the family began attending the Church of Scientology International center in Australia.
1982
From 1982 to 2007, Rinder served on the board of directors of CSI and also held the post of executive director of its Office of Special Affairs, overseeing the corporate, legal and public relations matters of Scientology at the international level.
1986
Rinder has discussed how the OSA responds to critics of the church who are Scientologists and those who aren't and stated that several events in the history of Scientology have rocked the organization: the death of L. Ron Hubbard in 1986, the discovery of Operation Snow White, the rise of the Internet in the 1990s, the mobile revolution of the 2000s and the rise of social media in the 2010s.
2005
As executive director of the Office of Special Affairs, he served as the chief spokesperson and representative of Scientology to the media for 25 years until replaced by Tommy Davis in 2005 under orders from David Miscavige.
This office is responsible for overseeing public relations and legal issues for the church, as well as handling "internal investigations into members' behavior."
2006
In a 2006 interview with Rolling Stone, Rinder said he had experienced discrimination in Australia during the period when the state of Victoria had banned Scientology: "You couldn't own Scientology books ... If you did, you had to hide them because if the police came and found them, they'd take them away."
After finishing high school, at age 18 Rinder joined the Sea Org on the ship Apollo, then headquarters for Sea Org and for Scientology.
Rinder became an early member of the Commodore's Messenger Organization and rapidly rose in rank to head of the Office of Special Affairs.
2007
Rinder left Scientology in 2007.
Ever since then, he has spoken about the physical and mental abuse inflicted upon staff members by Chairman of Scientology, David Miscavige, and by Rinder himself before his departure from the cult, and has explained how abuse was embedded into the culture of Scientology.
Rinder has said that he was living in The Hole for over two years "when he was suddenly pulled from his prison and sent on [a] mission to London to defend the Church against John Sweeney's film", Scientology and Me, in March 2007.
Rinder defended Scientology leader David Miscavige, but Miscavige was unhappy that Rinder was unable to stop the documentary from being shown.
As a result, Rinder "was to report to the church's facility in Sussex, and dig ditches" and then was to be allowed to return to the United States.
Rinder claimed his moment of clarity came in a confrontation with the filmmaker, which was recorded on video.
In the exchange, Rinder denied Sweeney's allegation that he had been abused by Miscavige and was instructed by him to deny it happened.
Rinder realized afterwards though that Sweeney's allegation about him was true and he was unable to rationalize why he was denying it.
Afterwards, instead of reporting to Sussex, Rinder decided to leave Scientology.
Rinder went to Virginia and told Scientology officials that he wanted to speak to his wife and also wanted his possessions.
He did not speak to his wife, but was sent a FedEx package with a check for $5,000.
His family photos were not sent.
Rinder's official biography has since been removed from the official Scientology website.
2009
After leaving Scientology, Rinder relocated to Denver, Colorado, and initially didn't intend to speak out against the organization; in 2009, when St. Petersburg Times first asked him for an interview, he declined.
However, a month later, two Washington-based Scientology lawyers went to his home unannounced, informed Rinder that they knew about the newspaper's visit and asked what he had revealed.
According to Rinder, this incident was another moment of clarity, because he realized he was now being subjected to Scientology's practice of fair game intimidation and harassment despite declining to speak out.
He decided to do the interview with the St. Petersburg Times, and said he was speaking out because "I don't want people to continue to be hurt and tricked and lied to."
He spoke about Scientology's management and the repeated abuse that he gave as well as received, and the interviews became part of the paper's "The Truth Rundown" special issue.
Since then, Rinder has given numerous interviews to journalists and participated in several documentaries about Scientology.
2010
In March 2010, Rinder again confirmed allegations of abuse within Scientology to CNN's Anderson Cooper on Anderson Cooper 360°.
On September 28, 2010, Rinder appeared on The Secrets of Scientology broadcast by the BBC series Panorama. In 2015 he appeared in the HBO documentary entitled Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief by Alex Gibney which is based on the book by Lawrence Wright.
Along with Leah Remini, Rinder co-hosted the A&E documentary series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.
Rinder published a memoir in September 2022 titled A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology.
His intimate knowledge about the organization, both as a Sea Org member for 46 years and as head of the OSA for 25 years, has been a revelation about the organization to the world.
2016
From 2016 to 2019, he co-hosted the Emmy Award-winning A&E documentary series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.
According to a 2016 Rolling Stone recap of the second episode of Leah Remini's documentary series "Scientology and the Aftermath", Rinder said of his position:
"If the Church decided someone was an enemy and needed to be silenced or destroyed, it was my job and I did it ... Everything from following them 24 hours a day to having people camped outside their door, to being vilified on the internet, to following them wherever they traveled, I was the guy [that did it]."
Rinder cited specific examples of this duty, saying that he personally traveled to London to prevent journalist John Sweeney, who is responsible for Scientology and Me, from attending a movie premiere and to attempt to "discredit Sweeney in any way that he could".
2020
In 2020, he and Remini reunited to launch the podcast Scientology: Fair Game.
In September 2022, he published a memoir titled A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology.
