Mike Rinder, the former senior Scientologist who with fellow ex-member Leah Remini exposed the organization via a podcast and an Emmy-winning docuseries, has died. He was 69.
“This is the last post on this site. 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 wrote in a final post written on his personal blog. “My only real regret is not having achieved what I said I wanted to — ending the abuses of Scientology”
In June 2023, journalist and Scientology expert Tony Ortega had shared that Rinder had advanced esophageal cancer. On Sunday, Ortega wrote on X, “Mike Rinder sent us an email today, to let us know that he had shuffled off this mortal coil. That was so like him, thoughtful to the end. We’re just coming to grips with this news.”
“I am heartbroken by the loss of one of the most compassionate and fearless people I’ve ever known. Rest in peace, @MikeRinder,” actress and former Scientologist Nazanin Boniadi wrote on X.
Born April, 10, 1955, in Adelaide, Australia, Rinder’s parents joined Scientology while he was a child and he grew up in the organization. At 18, he joined Scientology’s Sea Org, a senior level of staff within the organization. He continued his ascent in the organization and eventually became the executive director of the Office of Special Affairs, effectively becoming the chief media-facing representative of Scientology as well as, by his own admission, the chief practitioner of the PR dark arts, including smear and intimidation campaigns against journalists, ex-members and critics of Scientology.
Rinder headed the Office of Special Affairs for 25 years until he was dismissed in 2005.
Rinder linked up with actress Leah Remini, who had left Scientology in 2013, and the pair collaborated on the A&E investigative documentary series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, which first aired in November 2016. In all, Scientology and the Aftermath ran for three seasons for a total of 37 episodes, which Rinder co-hosted with Remini. Rinder would become an executive producer on the docuseries for the final season and the two-hour special that aired in 2019.
Scientology and the Aftermath won two Primetime Emmys, for outstanding informational series or special (2017) and outstanding hosted nonfiction series or special (2020), with Rinder receiving an Emmy for the latter win.
In 2020, Remini and Rinder would reunite to co-host the podcast Scientology: Fair Game which explored many of the same themes and issues as their A&E docuseries.
Rinder also made significant appearances in other documentaries and news specials related to Scientology, including the BBC’s 2010 Panaroma special The Secrets of Scientology and Alex Gibney’s 2015 HBO doc Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief.
