Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath (2016) s01e01 Episode Script
Disconnection
1 These are just some of the things the church said about me.
A program about our religon hosted by Ms.
Remini is doomed to be a cheap reality TV show Ms.
Remini is now joined at the hip with this collection of deadbeats, admitted liars, self admitted perjurers, wife beaters and worse.
What's the Church of Scientology so afraid of? When I first started filming this show, I thought I would just be documenting stories of families that were torn apart by the Church of Scientology's policies and practices, but what I uncovered was much deeper and darker than I ever expected.
What you're about to see sheds a light on the truth of what's really going on with this church, a church that I promoted, defended, and believed in most of my life.
Subs from explosiveskull I am the writer of the textbooks of Scientology.
The aim and goal is to put man in a mental condition, where he him can solve his own problems.
After all, religion is basically an effort to make man good.
Scientology is the belief that you can better your mind, but you're also helping this planet be a better place.
Without any Scientology organization, things are not going to change on this planet.
We are the most ethical group you're ever going to find and actually the only group that's really making change for mankind.
Woman: After years of slowly questioning Scientology Man: Leah Remini in her very public break with Scientology Leah: I didn't want to leave the Church of Scientology.
Nobody in my family wanted to leave.
Nobody wanted it to be true.
I didn't want to find out that what I had done my whole life was a lie.
[Doorbell rings.]
[Cheers and applause.]
He jumps up on the table, launches himself at me, started hammering my face.
The pope of Scientology just beat the shit out of me.
This was [bleep.]
violent.
I thought he was going to kill somebody.
And I'm standing there thinking he's going to come at me next.
[Crying.]
Went through such mental brutality, as well as all the money we spent to try to hang onto my family.
- Oh, my God! - Let's just stop.
Let's stop for a minute.
You don't get thrown into the fire in Scientology.
You get boiled like a frog.
I hope that this project at least validates your pain is real.
Fight for your family.
Fight for your daughters, your sons.
Get them out of this thing.
You're not going to continue to lie to people and abuse people and take their money and their lives.
If I can stop one, then I'm going to do it.
[Children shrieking.]
[Car horn honks.]
Leah: I was introduced to Scientology because my mom and dad got divorced, and my mom met my stepdad.
And there's this new thing that he's introducing my mother to, which is this thing called Scientology.
The promise of Scientology is that you will reach your full potential in all areas of your life.
So you'll be the best mother.
You'll be the best group member.
You'll be great to animals.
You'll take care of the environment.
You will reach the highest potential as a spiritual being.
Not only are you fixing yourself, but you're also helping mankind.
It offers you a sense of purpose in life.
This is an organization that will save the planet from crime, from war, from people hurting each other, and we're going to be part of the solution.
And when you make somebody feel they're part of something bigger, like saving the planet [Chuckles.]
[Cheers and applause.]
It was just a very exciting time for me.
I was part of a group.
I was with people that I loved.
I was learning, and I just thought I could give my kids a better life, you know, and give them an education on how to deal with life.
Dennis, my stepfather, and my mom had a baby when I was 14.
And then Dennis decided to leave my mother, and he moved in with somebody else, another woman.
Knowing that he was leaving my mom with a newborn you know, was hard and, you know, what can she do? It kind of pushed us, I guess, to stay in the church, because we didn't really have anywhere to go.
So my mother had called a friend of hers, who was a Scientologist who lived in California, and she was willing to take us in.
The message to us was, if you're a Scientologist, we'll take care of you.
So we moved to California, and everybody gets jobs.
My first job was for a Scientology restaurant.
I was selling car insurance.
I was a telemarketer.
Then I got a little part here and there, once in a while.
But really, I'm making such advancement in my church, and I continued to be on course, and I continued to go acting class.
And I just kind of took the reins for my family.
Like, I thought, if we're going to make it, it's going to be because I'm doing it.
And so that's what we did.
You two guys fighting again? - It's what we do best.
- It's what we do best.
You're pregnant.
Carla, that is a rude and unfair thing to say.
I am pregnant.
Leah: If I succeeded, it was because of Scientology.
If I failed, it was because I wasn't doing Scientology.
So yes, I am running around the town going, "I have the answers.
I need to get this show, because I need to talk about Scientology.
" That's what I'm thinking.
I don't know of an organization that has so their hands in so many things in the community, especially when it has to do with children and the environment.
And that's That's a beautiful thing.
I did attribute the communication course to my success.
When walking into a room full of producers, and I could look at them in the eye and go, "How are you?" You know, I mean, like, I really did believe that I had one up on everybody, because I had this Scientology thing.
- Hi.
- Hey, listen, Carrie, - I need to talk to you about - Not now, honey.
Got to pee, got to pee, got to pee! I get "The King of Queens.
" Now not only am I a celebrity, bona fide, but I've also become an Opinion Leader at my church.
And now I've started giving seminars in my church, and I've started to help people within the church.
In 2006, I was invited to Tom Cruise's wedding.
All of the top clergy of Scientology are there.
It was a big deal for the church.
And then I'm innocently standing by this fireplace in this big castle in Italy, and I said, "Hey, where's Shelly?" Shelly Miscavige is the leader's wife.
This was being called "the wedding of the century," so it was very weird that she wasn't there.
And their reaction was like, "I mean, that's the leader's wife.
You really shouldn't be asking about her.
" There's a pecking order in Scientology.
There are parishioners, and there are Sea Org members.
But in my mind, I'm a parishioner, but I'm also just a human being asking where another human being was.
Their response that I didn't have the [bleep.]
rank to be asking about a human being, it it spoke to the person in me that doesn't like to be bullied.
And that's what started me questioning the church more and more.
And I really started searching on the Internet stories of senior executives leaving the Church of Scientology, and also I was seeing stories of abuse over and over again, people being physically abused, sexually abused.
I started getting enraged.
And part of my personality is, once I have the information, I have to do something about it.
Now I'm asking about it.
I'm being called to interrogations, and they're accusing me of crimes that I've committed and did not disclose to my church.
They were saying that was the reason for my questioning, was that I was committing crimes against Scientology and they were going to find them.
And then my family started getting interrogated on this lie detector, the E-meter.
For asking questions, I was getting punished.
For asking questions, my family started to get punished.
And that's a problem.
When you are asking questions about your religion, and you're being met with interrogations that you're paying for, and that made me suspect now of a church that I believed my whole life.
Man: Actress Leah Remini sparked a whole lot of controversy and interest when she recently announced she had parted ways with the Church of Scientology.
Leah Remini is expected to actually write a tell-all book about her time in the Scientology Church, so we'll we will see what the next chapter will be.
Leah: When I wrote my book, I was really kind of hoping to end this chapter of my life with Scientology.
But what started to happen was people who used to work for the church, high-ranking executives and parishioners, were reaching out to me.
And one of those people was Amy Scobee.
Any Scobee I knew only as a senior executive of the Church of Scientology.
Amy sent a picture of her mom, Bonny, who was in a hospital bed holding my book.
And then I called Amy, and she told me the story of her mother and that at a certain time, they had to disconnect from each other.
The church's biggest weapon is their policy called "disconnection.
" It says that a parishioner shun their family member or friends.
So I just said, "You know what, Amy? I just got an idea.
I want to get this on film.
I don't know where it's going to go.
I don't know what it's going to do, but I'm just going to pay a crew to come out there.
Would that be okay with you?" And Amy was like, "Sure.
Let me ask my mom.
" And she asked Bonny, and Bonny said, "If it helps people not to disconnect from their family, absolutely.
" My name is Bonny Elliot.
And [Chuckling.]
What else do you want to know? Leah: I really didn't know what I was going to do with the footage.
I just felt something inside of me was, like, saying, "Get their story.
" And that's what I did.
You're welcome, hon.
Yeah.
Oh, boy, I hope it helps, 'cause I don't want any other person ever to go through any of this crap anymore.
I want to give a voice to these stories, enough that people will be incensed by it, to put some pressure on this organization to stop abusing people.
And so I'm hoping that by doing this show, we effect some kind of change.
I'm going to tell these stories in hopes that people wake up and go, "Okay, somebody needs to do something about this cult.
" Leah: I felt Mike Rinder was important to bring along on this project, because Mike Rinder was a senior executive of the Church of Scientology.
Mike knows the ins and outs of how the church works, because Mike used to engage in attacking people like me and Mike.
My name is Mike Rinder.
I was a Scientologist for 46 years.
I was the international spokesperson for Scientology for more than 20 years, until I left in 2007.
Man: Senior Scientology official Mike Rinder Man #2: Mike Rinder is one of Scientology's top leaders.
If I took one word to describe L.
Ron Hubbard, it would be "friend.
" Please welcome Mr.
Mike Rinder.
[Cheers and applause.]
Mike: Part of my job, according to Scientology policy, was to discredit and destroy critics who spoke out against the church.
If the church believed that someone was an enemy and needed to be silenced or destroyed, it was my job, and I did it.
People who oppose you are undoubtedly criminals? I believe that, yeah.
My biggest regret is that I caused two children to be born into and raised in Scientology.
I effectively lost them, because they're still there.
They don't communicate with me.
If I can help one person who I may have harmed in the past or prevent someone from being harmed in the future, of one family, just one, who is torn apart because of the practices of Scientology, it's worth making it known and hopefully preventing that.
Mike: The beauty of what what you've set out to do with this show is that you are now able to get information out that otherwise doesn't get out.
That's the part that I hope that we bring enough attention to this that people demand some kind of change.
I'm with you.
Yeah.
And I have to pee.
- Again.
- You're like my wife.
- That's why I don't drink water! - [Laughs.]
She drinks water all the time.
Right, and you have to pee.
I'm like, "Come on.
" - Come on.
- And I'm hungry.
- Hi! - Welcome to my house! Oh, thank you for having us.
You look beautiful.
Thank you.
So do you, always.
How are you? Hi! - This is my husband, Matt.
- Hello.
Nice to meet you.
My name is Amy Scobee.
And I was in Scientology for 27 years.
I was a Watchdog Committee member for Celebrity Centres.
One of the things that Scientology does is it concentrates on collecting celebrities.
My mission was to recruit celebrities into Scientology and make them into walking success stories of Scientology.
Mike: There is an idea that if you can get a celebrity "winning with Scientology," and he starts telling everybody else, then that is going to result a lot of people who will have an interest in Scientology and come into Scientology.
And that idea isn't wrong.
It's true.
The Church of Scientology is a business.
And like any business, they love to have a celebrity selling it.
Celebrity Centre inspires me to try to help where I can and do things that I can do that might make some positive change.
It's for everybody.
It's for any denomination, and it works, and that's the bottom line.
When I found Celebrity Centre, I found my life again.
That's when I found Scientology, and I found the truth.
Amy: I was responsible for establishing the Celebrity Centres and building them and staffing them up and training them and stuff like that, and putting the hotel there so that it was perfect.
It's the first time ever of, like, owning a home.
This is so lovely, you guys.
- Aww.
- This is my family photos.
- Aww.
- You know, this was We got our first apartment when we left, and the first thing I did was collect any photo that I could find.
I got this plastic frame, and I put this collage together of all my family.
That is so sweet.
I remember you like that.
[Laughing.]
I know.
Amy: When I was about 13 years old, my mom started in Scientology.
Bonny: I was, like, a leftover flower child, because Scientology was very much peace and, boy, are we going to make things good for everybody.
And so that was That was the idea, is to really contribute something to mankind.
So I got in and started a few courses.
And pretty soon, I was in all the time and getting my kids in, because they wanted to recruit them.
[Telephone ringing.]
Amy: One day, I got a phone call from somebody at the Church of Scientology, and he said, "You know, I understand that you're a very, you know, intelligent young lady, and we've got services that might improve different areas of your life.
And I want to introduce you to some of the people here and to the course room.
" I went into the course room, and there was a lady named Sally there with the supervisor.
And she sat down with me and explained that I was a spiritual being and that they were in the business of freeing you as a spiritual being, and that sounded really fantastic to me.
I-I will say that this whole thing of the children and the people that get into Scientology at a very, very young age, - they know nothing else.
- Mm-hmm.
Amy: I'm gonna bring up a sensitive subject because it's right exactly on that line, which is I was 14 when I started in Scientology.
And, um, I had a boss who was 35 years old.
He was married.
And, um he had me stay back, you know, when everybody else left, and, basically, we had sex.
This was statutory rape.
And I was too afraid to tell anyone about it.
He told his wife.
And then they told the organization.
And then the organization did not tell my mother, did not tell my father, who would put him in jail, um, did not tell the police.
What What What's the thinking behind that? - I mean - Because, well, number one, they didn't tell any authorities because it would be bad PR for Scientology.
- For the church.
- So, and they indoctrinated me that if anything serious goes on, it's handled internally.
It happened to me, so, therefore, I must have done something that caused it, you know? And And at the time, being a child I-I was innocent.
I was innocent.
- You believed it, though.
- Yeah, I believed it.
- I believed it.
- You believed that you were not a victim.
- Yeah.
- You believed that you were - You had done something wrong - That's right.
- to have deserved that.
- Yeah.
I wanted to just do what was right.
- Yeah.
- You know? And they were the authorities.
Well, you're also indoctrinated in Scientology to believe that the justice system is corrupt, that it doesn't do anything to ever resolve the problem, that Scientology is where the answers lie to even a child molester.
I've heard this heart-breaking, disgusting story that makes me want to hire someone to break his [bleep.]
legs.
- Right.
- There's nothing nobody can do.
The Justice Department can't dothing because of, uh, statute of limitations.
There's nothing anybody can do.
I-I can't do anything.
'Cause I don't even know how to continue.
Yeah, I don't even, you know There's one thing that can be done.
- What? - It can be exposed.
Amy: So, I never went to high school.
And they had me out on the streets, body-routing people into the organization to introduce them to Scientology.
And that was an experience in itself.
And then after my 16th birthday, I joined the Sea Organization.
That was my first time away from home, so it was pretty scary to me.
Mike: The Sea Organization is the equivalent to the Vatican or the highest levels of any other religion, the people who devote themselves full-time, 365 days a year.
They sign a billion-year contract, a commitment for eternal lifetimes to achieving the goals of Scientology, live communally.
They don't have to pay the rent.
Everything is provided for them, and all they do is work on Scientology business day in and day out.
L.
Ron Hubbard was in the Navy.
Many of the Naval terms, ranks, ways of operating were carried over and were the foundation for the structure of the Sea Organization.
And that's why Sea Org members wear Naval-looking uniforms.
You can join the Sea Organization from 12 and above as long as you have parental permission up to the age of 18.
When a child joins the Sea Organization, the parents waive all responsibility, all care and participation in the life of their child.
It's a billion-year contract, because you're basically signing that you are fully committed, 100%, for as long as it takes to salvage this sector of the universe.
And I singed it.
Well, then we had to go and tell my dad that I was gonna be leaving permanently to the Sea Organization.
And the recruiters told me to tell my dad that I was gonna be a model in Paris, 'cause they didn't want him to not let me go to Scientology, because he wasn't necessarily fond of Scientology.
James: And the first thing I was worried about, "Well, is she gonna be able to still go to school and be able to graduate and still do this modeling career?" And they said, "Well, of course.
" Amy: He was so proud of me that I was gonna go be a model in Paris.
I got on the airplane.
I flew to Los Angeles.
The next morning, I called my dad, tears, "I lied to you!" [Chuckles.]
"I am in Scientology Sea Organization.
" [Chuckling.]
I kind of exploded a little bit.
Well, more than a little bit.
I just lost my daughter.
Bonny: I didn't known until later that she'd signed the contract.
But I was never asked if she could be part of it.
When I complained about that, I was told that I shouldn't be taking the right away from her ever to be everything that she could.
They told her, "You need to give up your daughter to to the Sea Organization.
If we're gonna salvage this planet, this is your contribution.
You don't want to stop that.
" You know, you kind of hang this over the person's head.
And she signed parental consent.
Bonny: I was crushed.
I mean, I had actually, at that point, felt like I had destroyed my family.
I ended up going to the international headquarters, which is in Hemet, California, and, um, I was there for 20 years.
You know, the thing that you really learn in Scientology, specifically in the Sea Organization, is that the Church is first.
And family is a distraction.
You would only do things like write a letter and they're called "Good Roads Fair Weather letters" so that they don't file missing-persons, you know, reports on you or, you know, go to the media because they haven't heard from their children or something like that.
I worked in, uh, the Watchdog Committee, which is the basically the highest ecclesiastical body that manages all of Scientology and is broken down by different sectors, like Celebrity Centre sector, which I was in charge of.
Amy: I mean, we went to extremes to make celebrities happy, - and it was mainly - [Women screaming.]
Tom Cruise.
My job, I was being run by Shelly Miscavige out of David Miscavige's office to surround Tom Cruise with Scientologists on staff.
So I had to hire an executive housekeeper, a maid, a cook.
And they had to be Scientologists? They all had to be Scientologists.
- Why? - 'Cause they wanted him to only be in Scientology 100%.
And when I went to the house, there were people cleaning his house, folding his laundry, doing things for Tom, personally - Mm-hmm.
- Sea Org members.
Amy: During that time, that's when I saw the abuses going on with David Miscavige.
We were in meetings with him very often.
And he's a very angry man.
If you said something that didn't please him, he would go off on you.
If you're a man, he would likely hit you, punch you, knock you down on the you know, choke you.
I witnessed that at least on a dozen occasions.
My view of David Miscavige when I was in the Church was that he was protecting Scientology, he was making great things happen for Scientology.
When you're talking about David Miscavige with Scientologists, you're talking to someone like the Pope.
Could you imagine somebody saying, "Oh, the Pope hit somebody"? You'd be like, "Okay, you're insane.
" Amy: I saw abuse and punchings and, you know, wrestling around, and I would rationalize it all by saying, "Well, because we're clearing the planet.
Because we we have no time.
Because David Miscavige has most of the pressure.
Because people are failing on their jobs, and he's having to do it himself, that's why it's okay that he is beating people.
" I was rationalizing.
My mind immediately would justify why this crap was okay.
And then I had a blinding realization.
I realized that what I'm doing is I am rationalizing insanities.
She's seen people abused over and over again.
What should she do? Write a report that David Miscavige is beating people? To who?! There's no one above him.
Now what? I realized that what I'm doing is I am rationalizing insanities.
And when I realized my mind was doing that, I started to see things crystal clear as it's happening.
And I would go, "That's not okay.
That's criminal.
I don't stand for that.
Why am I here to 'make a better planet' when what's right in front of me is despicably disgusting?" It's just crazy how it happens, where something happens to you where you just stop thinking in crazy terms - and think in reality.
- Yeah.
And I started becoming very defiant.
Right.
And not appreciated.
- Right.
- Because Because I would call - things the way they were and - To put it mildly.
To put it mildly.
Amy: The Rehabilitation Project Force is basically for Sea Org members who get in big trouble.
You run everywhere you go.
You do hard, manual labor.
You call everybody "sir.
" You have no communication in and no communication out within that group.
Mike: It's a thought reform program for members of the Sea Organization to get them back with the program and no longer being, uh, troublesome or not doing what they're supposed to do or thinking bad thoughts.
Amy: I didn't agree with things, and I caused trouble.
And I wasn't gonna change my mind.
Our story about leaving is pretty interesting.
I am one lucky lady, just so you know.
I am so blessed to have him as my husband.
Um, he saved me from Scientology and the Sea Organization.
Uh, we were both in the Rehabilitation Project Force together in Florida.
And the concept of leaving is really scary, okay? 'Cause, number one, I got I joined so young, so I never went to high school, didn't have a bank account.
I didn't know how to drive a car, never cooked.
And you're taught that the outside world is just aberrated and criminal.
So it was kind of a really scary thing to me.
Imagine walking out of your house with zero money in your pocket, no one to call, no cellphone, no family, because usually, the family who was outside the organization, you weren't talking to.
So imagine, just start.
Start your life right now.
But I stood there in the Rehabilitation Project Force behind the gates, behind the security guards, seeing people drive by probably going to the beach, families, people laughing.
And I'm thinking, "Here I am for my fourth time in the Rehabilitation Project Force, and I want to do what they're doing.
" [Laughs.]
And I was just done.
So we originate that we want to leave.
So, of course, right away, you get separated.
- Mm-hmm.
- With individual security guards - on me and on him 24/7.
- 24/7.
You know, like, I had a security guard on me, and then a person sleeping outside the door.
And then there's a person outside the building being security guard for that building.
Then there's a roving security guard.
Then there's a guard at the gate.
- And the - So what what would happen? I mean, what would happen if you walk past the first security guard? If I try to get out of there? - Yeah.
- They're gonna chase me.
- If I If I succeed - But to chase you, - but you're a big guy.
- Yeah.
Physically, you could have probably gotten out.
- Sure.
Yeah.
- Right? - And that's how I finally did get out.
- No matter what the security.
- I finally said - So it's really mainly - a mental thing.
- It's totally mental.
Because you're trying to do the right thing.
- Right.
- You're not trying to - We're not wanting to hurt them.
- Right.
We're just I had enough.
I've been here for 27 years, - I don't want to be here anymore.
- Right.
You know, it's just ridiculous.
So anyway, I said, "Unless you want to shoot me in the [bleep.]
head, - we're out of here.
" - Right.
The Sea Org will go to whatever length they think they can get away with to keep someone from leaving.
They're not getting new people in, so they got to hang on to what they've got.
Amy: I'm gonna start a whole new life in the real world outside of Scientology, the only thing I've known since I was 14 years old.
I'm 42 at this point.
James: After Amy had left to go to the Church of Scientology, I said, "All you got to do is call me, 'cause I'll be there.
" And [Chuckles.]
27 years later, I got the phone call.
Amy: I finally arrive in Seattle.
And I'm walking down the corridor, and I can see my dad.
I didn't have my daughter in my life for 27 years.
But when you love a child, you love a child with everything you have.
And when that child comes back, that's unconditional love.
We've never had a problem reconnecting, none whatsoever.
I am so excited to see my mom, but I was worried, 'cause her husband's still in.
She was still a Scientologist at that point.
And they both could basically get in big trouble.
I was very nervous that they were gonna get to her and that they were going to convince her that the right thing to do would be to disconnect from me.
They usually start going after your Scientology family and friends.
And they will try to talk the family member or friend into disconnecting from you and shunning you.
Amy: I mean, it's just crazy.
I need to get to her first.
Leah: One of the Church's weapons is how they deal with family members who have left the church.
For a Scientologist, being declared a suppressive person is It is a fate worse than death.
Before I left the Church of Scientology, I did every single thing they asked me to do, so that I would not get declared a suppressive person, because I have family in Scientology.
I know the ramifications of the disconnection policy.
I've seen it with other people and breaking up families and how devastating it is.
And I am very close with my family and especially my mom.
Leah: They usually start going after your Scientology family and friends, and they will try to talk to the family member or friend into disconnecting from you and shunning you.
Amy: I was worried that they were going to convince her that the right thing to do would be to disconnect from me.
I need to get to her first.
So I went down to her house, and I start telling her my whole story.
And during that time when we were speaking at her house, there was a knock on the door.
So she said, you know, "Go hide in the back room.
" So I ran to the back room, which is just this little bedroom.
Bonny: The ethics officer from the Church came to visit.
That's like the enforcer in the Church.
Amy: I'm just trying to listen.
What are they gonna tell my mom? An hour passes.
I'm sitting there on the bed.
That was when I started worrying, "Are they actually getting to her?" So what he was telling me was that my daughter was evil, and everything she touched was poison, and that she'd done so much damage to the church, and that I should have nothing to do with her.
And she was now a suppressive person.
I mean, if you read about what a suppressive person is, this is a person who loves that people are destroyed.
This is a person who loves when people are in pain.
So if you have that idea, that suppressive people are these other things that come out of the ground, that are devils, that No, you never think you're gonna be considered one of those people as a Scientologist, ever.
I, at that point, didn't mind being declared.
They could've declared me a thousand times.
I didn't care.
But I cared for Mark.
My husband worked his whole life 30-some years in Scientology.
I didn't want him to give up his dreams or his wife.
I mean, we do love each other, you know? Leah: In Scientology, you're also led to believe, by disconnecting from your son or daughter or brother or divorcing your husband, is because you're helping them to get back in the good graces.
By you saying, "I'm not talking to you," will straighten you out.
You will come to your senses and come crawling back to the church to get help.
Bonny: My husband was getting pressure.
"Is your wife in contact with her daughter?" So, there you have it.
I have a husband which I absolutely adore, I've been married to 34 years now, and I have a daughter which I absolutely adore, and I have a choice.
Bonny: So, there you have it.
I have a choice.
So I told her at that point that I was gonna have to disconnect from her.
[Voice breaking.]
That wasn't a good day.
So what do I do, you know? I just hug her, knowing that it's gonna be the last time.
[Crying.]
When people leave Scientology and they lose everything, they realize family was the most important thing.
I've always been a very up person, you know? I snap out of things very, very quickly.
I had no idea what people were talking about when they said they got depressed and stayed that way.
I got depressed, and I stayed that way.
Amy: My aunt Colleen called me, and she said, "Your mom is depressed.
She feels like her heart has been ripped out of her chest.
She doesn't see a reason to keep living.
I'm worried that she's suicidal.
" All of my life, I had never contemplated suicide or anything like it.
But I was sure looking at the end of that tunnel, and there was no light at the end of that tunnel.
So, I went down there in front of the house.
[Sobs.]
In front of her house, and I just scooped her up and hugged her like I don't think we've ever hugged before.
She described to me what was racing through her head at that time, which was if I can say the "F" word, she said, "[Bleep.]
everybody.
[Bleep.]
everything.
" Didn't matter.
Didn't matter what was gonna happen at this point.
All right.
I'd be divorced.
I'd be on the streets.
I can find me one of those shopping carts.
I'm okay.
I'm gonna be just fine.
Amy: We said, "It doesn't matter if they want to declare us to the moon and back.
They are not winning.
They are not ripping us apart.
" We started seeing each other every day.
[Laughs.]
Every day.
Now where I am in my life is, um, I currently have stage-4 cancer, so, um, I got a new battle.
[Chuckles.]
And, um [Clears throat.]
And my family, bless their heart, every single one of them couldn't be more supportive.
They have been warm and loving, and we just have the best of the best.
So, so there, Scientology.
Don't you ever break up another family [Chuckles.]
you bastards.
I know I can't say "bastards," but they deserve it.
Mike: There aren't many stories like this.
I wish it could happen with every family.
If that were the case with every family, then disconnection would be no tool at all to control Scientologists.
Amy and Bonny's story really touched me because they persevered in the end, you know? Bonny was like, "Screw it.
I choose my daughter.
" I've got two kids that are still there, and I can't, in good conscience, walk away from that and say, "It's too hard.
It's never gonna happen.
" And I look around, and I go, "Who else is gonna take up the fight?" - Well, Leah is.
And I - You are.
And I love her for it, because she doesn't have to.
I helped to promote this organization.
I defended it.
I helped people to stay in it.
I have some making up to do.
Woman: The lady expelled from the church for having sexual relations with someone she was ministering to, a violation of professional conduct in any church.
Amy Scobee served her church for 27 years.
It's a lifetime.
It's a lifetime of blood, sweat, and tears to something that just turns its back on you.
Not only does it turn its back on you, but it goes after you.
It tries to destroy you.
And then it tries to take away the family that you were fighting to keep together.
I feel a tremendous responsibility to bring justice to some of these people who have been victimized by you.
I get told I'm going to be declared if I don't disconnect from my mom.
We're hearing the same story over and over again mental abuse, sexual abuse, people being imprisoned.
David Miscavige physically assaulted me five separate times.
This was [bleep.]
violent.
I thought he was gonna kill somebody.
I had no idea this was going on.
When I first started filming this show, I thought I would just expose the abuses.
Now I'm feeling like that's not enough.
They just took their security truck, and they just ran me right off the road.
These people are actively destroying people's lives.
The limit is really what can you get away with.
The intimidation tactics, the cameras in people's faces, anything was fair game when it came to dealing with critics of Scientology.
Hey, who you getting that for? That's my garbage.
I thought the worst, I had already heard.
But it keeps getting worse.
They both have their phones pointed this way.
Now the church is coming after me.
- Why were you taking video of us? - I'm waiting for a person.
You're gonna tell me that you're not a private investigator? This is taking it to a level that is so [bleep.]
vile.
I'm not gonna be intimidated.
The Church will get exposed.
And I'm not gonna stop.
A program about our religon hosted by Ms.
Remini is doomed to be a cheap reality TV show Ms.
Remini is now joined at the hip with this collection of deadbeats, admitted liars, self admitted perjurers, wife beaters and worse.
What's the Church of Scientology so afraid of? When I first started filming this show, I thought I would just be documenting stories of families that were torn apart by the Church of Scientology's policies and practices, but what I uncovered was much deeper and darker than I ever expected.
What you're about to see sheds a light on the truth of what's really going on with this church, a church that I promoted, defended, and believed in most of my life.
Subs from explosiveskull I am the writer of the textbooks of Scientology.
The aim and goal is to put man in a mental condition, where he him can solve his own problems.
After all, religion is basically an effort to make man good.
Scientology is the belief that you can better your mind, but you're also helping this planet be a better place.
Without any Scientology organization, things are not going to change on this planet.
We are the most ethical group you're ever going to find and actually the only group that's really making change for mankind.
Woman: After years of slowly questioning Scientology Man: Leah Remini in her very public break with Scientology Leah: I didn't want to leave the Church of Scientology.
Nobody in my family wanted to leave.
Nobody wanted it to be true.
I didn't want to find out that what I had done my whole life was a lie.
[Doorbell rings.]
[Cheers and applause.]
He jumps up on the table, launches himself at me, started hammering my face.
The pope of Scientology just beat the shit out of me.
This was [bleep.]
violent.
I thought he was going to kill somebody.
And I'm standing there thinking he's going to come at me next.
[Crying.]
Went through such mental brutality, as well as all the money we spent to try to hang onto my family.
- Oh, my God! - Let's just stop.
Let's stop for a minute.
You don't get thrown into the fire in Scientology.
You get boiled like a frog.
I hope that this project at least validates your pain is real.
Fight for your family.
Fight for your daughters, your sons.
Get them out of this thing.
You're not going to continue to lie to people and abuse people and take their money and their lives.
If I can stop one, then I'm going to do it.
[Children shrieking.]
[Car horn honks.]
Leah: I was introduced to Scientology because my mom and dad got divorced, and my mom met my stepdad.
And there's this new thing that he's introducing my mother to, which is this thing called Scientology.
The promise of Scientology is that you will reach your full potential in all areas of your life.
So you'll be the best mother.
You'll be the best group member.
You'll be great to animals.
You'll take care of the environment.
You will reach the highest potential as a spiritual being.
Not only are you fixing yourself, but you're also helping mankind.
It offers you a sense of purpose in life.
This is an organization that will save the planet from crime, from war, from people hurting each other, and we're going to be part of the solution.
And when you make somebody feel they're part of something bigger, like saving the planet [Chuckles.]
[Cheers and applause.]
It was just a very exciting time for me.
I was part of a group.
I was with people that I loved.
I was learning, and I just thought I could give my kids a better life, you know, and give them an education on how to deal with life.
Dennis, my stepfather, and my mom had a baby when I was 14.
And then Dennis decided to leave my mother, and he moved in with somebody else, another woman.
Knowing that he was leaving my mom with a newborn you know, was hard and, you know, what can she do? It kind of pushed us, I guess, to stay in the church, because we didn't really have anywhere to go.
So my mother had called a friend of hers, who was a Scientologist who lived in California, and she was willing to take us in.
The message to us was, if you're a Scientologist, we'll take care of you.
So we moved to California, and everybody gets jobs.
My first job was for a Scientology restaurant.
I was selling car insurance.
I was a telemarketer.
Then I got a little part here and there, once in a while.
But really, I'm making such advancement in my church, and I continued to be on course, and I continued to go acting class.
And I just kind of took the reins for my family.
Like, I thought, if we're going to make it, it's going to be because I'm doing it.
And so that's what we did.
You two guys fighting again? - It's what we do best.
- It's what we do best.
You're pregnant.
Carla, that is a rude and unfair thing to say.
I am pregnant.
Leah: If I succeeded, it was because of Scientology.
If I failed, it was because I wasn't doing Scientology.
So yes, I am running around the town going, "I have the answers.
I need to get this show, because I need to talk about Scientology.
" That's what I'm thinking.
I don't know of an organization that has so their hands in so many things in the community, especially when it has to do with children and the environment.
And that's That's a beautiful thing.
I did attribute the communication course to my success.
When walking into a room full of producers, and I could look at them in the eye and go, "How are you?" You know, I mean, like, I really did believe that I had one up on everybody, because I had this Scientology thing.
- Hi.
- Hey, listen, Carrie, - I need to talk to you about - Not now, honey.
Got to pee, got to pee, got to pee! I get "The King of Queens.
" Now not only am I a celebrity, bona fide, but I've also become an Opinion Leader at my church.
And now I've started giving seminars in my church, and I've started to help people within the church.
In 2006, I was invited to Tom Cruise's wedding.
All of the top clergy of Scientology are there.
It was a big deal for the church.
And then I'm innocently standing by this fireplace in this big castle in Italy, and I said, "Hey, where's Shelly?" Shelly Miscavige is the leader's wife.
This was being called "the wedding of the century," so it was very weird that she wasn't there.
And their reaction was like, "I mean, that's the leader's wife.
You really shouldn't be asking about her.
" There's a pecking order in Scientology.
There are parishioners, and there are Sea Org members.
But in my mind, I'm a parishioner, but I'm also just a human being asking where another human being was.
Their response that I didn't have the [bleep.]
rank to be asking about a human being, it it spoke to the person in me that doesn't like to be bullied.
And that's what started me questioning the church more and more.
And I really started searching on the Internet stories of senior executives leaving the Church of Scientology, and also I was seeing stories of abuse over and over again, people being physically abused, sexually abused.
I started getting enraged.
And part of my personality is, once I have the information, I have to do something about it.
Now I'm asking about it.
I'm being called to interrogations, and they're accusing me of crimes that I've committed and did not disclose to my church.
They were saying that was the reason for my questioning, was that I was committing crimes against Scientology and they were going to find them.
And then my family started getting interrogated on this lie detector, the E-meter.
For asking questions, I was getting punished.
For asking questions, my family started to get punished.
And that's a problem.
When you are asking questions about your religion, and you're being met with interrogations that you're paying for, and that made me suspect now of a church that I believed my whole life.
Man: Actress Leah Remini sparked a whole lot of controversy and interest when she recently announced she had parted ways with the Church of Scientology.
Leah Remini is expected to actually write a tell-all book about her time in the Scientology Church, so we'll we will see what the next chapter will be.
Leah: When I wrote my book, I was really kind of hoping to end this chapter of my life with Scientology.
But what started to happen was people who used to work for the church, high-ranking executives and parishioners, were reaching out to me.
And one of those people was Amy Scobee.
Any Scobee I knew only as a senior executive of the Church of Scientology.
Amy sent a picture of her mom, Bonny, who was in a hospital bed holding my book.
And then I called Amy, and she told me the story of her mother and that at a certain time, they had to disconnect from each other.
The church's biggest weapon is their policy called "disconnection.
" It says that a parishioner shun their family member or friends.
So I just said, "You know what, Amy? I just got an idea.
I want to get this on film.
I don't know where it's going to go.
I don't know what it's going to do, but I'm just going to pay a crew to come out there.
Would that be okay with you?" And Amy was like, "Sure.
Let me ask my mom.
" And she asked Bonny, and Bonny said, "If it helps people not to disconnect from their family, absolutely.
" My name is Bonny Elliot.
And [Chuckling.]
What else do you want to know? Leah: I really didn't know what I was going to do with the footage.
I just felt something inside of me was, like, saying, "Get their story.
" And that's what I did.
You're welcome, hon.
Yeah.
Oh, boy, I hope it helps, 'cause I don't want any other person ever to go through any of this crap anymore.
I want to give a voice to these stories, enough that people will be incensed by it, to put some pressure on this organization to stop abusing people.
And so I'm hoping that by doing this show, we effect some kind of change.
I'm going to tell these stories in hopes that people wake up and go, "Okay, somebody needs to do something about this cult.
" Leah: I felt Mike Rinder was important to bring along on this project, because Mike Rinder was a senior executive of the Church of Scientology.
Mike knows the ins and outs of how the church works, because Mike used to engage in attacking people like me and Mike.
My name is Mike Rinder.
I was a Scientologist for 46 years.
I was the international spokesperson for Scientology for more than 20 years, until I left in 2007.
Man: Senior Scientology official Mike Rinder Man #2: Mike Rinder is one of Scientology's top leaders.
If I took one word to describe L.
Ron Hubbard, it would be "friend.
" Please welcome Mr.
Mike Rinder.
[Cheers and applause.]
Mike: Part of my job, according to Scientology policy, was to discredit and destroy critics who spoke out against the church.
If the church believed that someone was an enemy and needed to be silenced or destroyed, it was my job, and I did it.
People who oppose you are undoubtedly criminals? I believe that, yeah.
My biggest regret is that I caused two children to be born into and raised in Scientology.
I effectively lost them, because they're still there.
They don't communicate with me.
If I can help one person who I may have harmed in the past or prevent someone from being harmed in the future, of one family, just one, who is torn apart because of the practices of Scientology, it's worth making it known and hopefully preventing that.
Mike: The beauty of what what you've set out to do with this show is that you are now able to get information out that otherwise doesn't get out.
That's the part that I hope that we bring enough attention to this that people demand some kind of change.
I'm with you.
Yeah.
And I have to pee.
- Again.
- You're like my wife.
- That's why I don't drink water! - [Laughs.]
She drinks water all the time.
Right, and you have to pee.
I'm like, "Come on.
" - Come on.
- And I'm hungry.
- Hi! - Welcome to my house! Oh, thank you for having us.
You look beautiful.
Thank you.
So do you, always.
How are you? Hi! - This is my husband, Matt.
- Hello.
Nice to meet you.
My name is Amy Scobee.
And I was in Scientology for 27 years.
I was a Watchdog Committee member for Celebrity Centres.
One of the things that Scientology does is it concentrates on collecting celebrities.
My mission was to recruit celebrities into Scientology and make them into walking success stories of Scientology.
Mike: There is an idea that if you can get a celebrity "winning with Scientology," and he starts telling everybody else, then that is going to result a lot of people who will have an interest in Scientology and come into Scientology.
And that idea isn't wrong.
It's true.
The Church of Scientology is a business.
And like any business, they love to have a celebrity selling it.
Celebrity Centre inspires me to try to help where I can and do things that I can do that might make some positive change.
It's for everybody.
It's for any denomination, and it works, and that's the bottom line.
When I found Celebrity Centre, I found my life again.
That's when I found Scientology, and I found the truth.
Amy: I was responsible for establishing the Celebrity Centres and building them and staffing them up and training them and stuff like that, and putting the hotel there so that it was perfect.
It's the first time ever of, like, owning a home.
This is so lovely, you guys.
- Aww.
- This is my family photos.
- Aww.
- You know, this was We got our first apartment when we left, and the first thing I did was collect any photo that I could find.
I got this plastic frame, and I put this collage together of all my family.
That is so sweet.
I remember you like that.
[Laughing.]
I know.
Amy: When I was about 13 years old, my mom started in Scientology.
Bonny: I was, like, a leftover flower child, because Scientology was very much peace and, boy, are we going to make things good for everybody.
And so that was That was the idea, is to really contribute something to mankind.
So I got in and started a few courses.
And pretty soon, I was in all the time and getting my kids in, because they wanted to recruit them.
[Telephone ringing.]
Amy: One day, I got a phone call from somebody at the Church of Scientology, and he said, "You know, I understand that you're a very, you know, intelligent young lady, and we've got services that might improve different areas of your life.
And I want to introduce you to some of the people here and to the course room.
" I went into the course room, and there was a lady named Sally there with the supervisor.
And she sat down with me and explained that I was a spiritual being and that they were in the business of freeing you as a spiritual being, and that sounded really fantastic to me.
I-I will say that this whole thing of the children and the people that get into Scientology at a very, very young age, - they know nothing else.
- Mm-hmm.
Amy: I'm gonna bring up a sensitive subject because it's right exactly on that line, which is I was 14 when I started in Scientology.
And, um, I had a boss who was 35 years old.
He was married.
And, um he had me stay back, you know, when everybody else left, and, basically, we had sex.
This was statutory rape.
And I was too afraid to tell anyone about it.
He told his wife.
And then they told the organization.
And then the organization did not tell my mother, did not tell my father, who would put him in jail, um, did not tell the police.
What What What's the thinking behind that? - I mean - Because, well, number one, they didn't tell any authorities because it would be bad PR for Scientology.
- For the church.
- So, and they indoctrinated me that if anything serious goes on, it's handled internally.
It happened to me, so, therefore, I must have done something that caused it, you know? And And at the time, being a child I-I was innocent.
I was innocent.
- You believed it, though.
- Yeah, I believed it.
- I believed it.
- You believed that you were not a victim.
- Yeah.
- You believed that you were - You had done something wrong - That's right.
- to have deserved that.
- Yeah.
I wanted to just do what was right.
- Yeah.
- You know? And they were the authorities.
Well, you're also indoctrinated in Scientology to believe that the justice system is corrupt, that it doesn't do anything to ever resolve the problem, that Scientology is where the answers lie to even a child molester.
I've heard this heart-breaking, disgusting story that makes me want to hire someone to break his [bleep.]
legs.
- Right.
- There's nothing nobody can do.
The Justice Department can't dothing because of, uh, statute of limitations.
There's nothing anybody can do.
I-I can't do anything.
'Cause I don't even know how to continue.
Yeah, I don't even, you know There's one thing that can be done.
- What? - It can be exposed.
Amy: So, I never went to high school.
And they had me out on the streets, body-routing people into the organization to introduce them to Scientology.
And that was an experience in itself.
And then after my 16th birthday, I joined the Sea Organization.
That was my first time away from home, so it was pretty scary to me.
Mike: The Sea Organization is the equivalent to the Vatican or the highest levels of any other religion, the people who devote themselves full-time, 365 days a year.
They sign a billion-year contract, a commitment for eternal lifetimes to achieving the goals of Scientology, live communally.
They don't have to pay the rent.
Everything is provided for them, and all they do is work on Scientology business day in and day out.
L.
Ron Hubbard was in the Navy.
Many of the Naval terms, ranks, ways of operating were carried over and were the foundation for the structure of the Sea Organization.
And that's why Sea Org members wear Naval-looking uniforms.
You can join the Sea Organization from 12 and above as long as you have parental permission up to the age of 18.
When a child joins the Sea Organization, the parents waive all responsibility, all care and participation in the life of their child.
It's a billion-year contract, because you're basically signing that you are fully committed, 100%, for as long as it takes to salvage this sector of the universe.
And I singed it.
Well, then we had to go and tell my dad that I was gonna be leaving permanently to the Sea Organization.
And the recruiters told me to tell my dad that I was gonna be a model in Paris, 'cause they didn't want him to not let me go to Scientology, because he wasn't necessarily fond of Scientology.
James: And the first thing I was worried about, "Well, is she gonna be able to still go to school and be able to graduate and still do this modeling career?" And they said, "Well, of course.
" Amy: He was so proud of me that I was gonna go be a model in Paris.
I got on the airplane.
I flew to Los Angeles.
The next morning, I called my dad, tears, "I lied to you!" [Chuckles.]
"I am in Scientology Sea Organization.
" [Chuckling.]
I kind of exploded a little bit.
Well, more than a little bit.
I just lost my daughter.
Bonny: I didn't known until later that she'd signed the contract.
But I was never asked if she could be part of it.
When I complained about that, I was told that I shouldn't be taking the right away from her ever to be everything that she could.
They told her, "You need to give up your daughter to to the Sea Organization.
If we're gonna salvage this planet, this is your contribution.
You don't want to stop that.
" You know, you kind of hang this over the person's head.
And she signed parental consent.
Bonny: I was crushed.
I mean, I had actually, at that point, felt like I had destroyed my family.
I ended up going to the international headquarters, which is in Hemet, California, and, um, I was there for 20 years.
You know, the thing that you really learn in Scientology, specifically in the Sea Organization, is that the Church is first.
And family is a distraction.
You would only do things like write a letter and they're called "Good Roads Fair Weather letters" so that they don't file missing-persons, you know, reports on you or, you know, go to the media because they haven't heard from their children or something like that.
I worked in, uh, the Watchdog Committee, which is the basically the highest ecclesiastical body that manages all of Scientology and is broken down by different sectors, like Celebrity Centre sector, which I was in charge of.
Amy: I mean, we went to extremes to make celebrities happy, - and it was mainly - [Women screaming.]
Tom Cruise.
My job, I was being run by Shelly Miscavige out of David Miscavige's office to surround Tom Cruise with Scientologists on staff.
So I had to hire an executive housekeeper, a maid, a cook.
And they had to be Scientologists? They all had to be Scientologists.
- Why? - 'Cause they wanted him to only be in Scientology 100%.
And when I went to the house, there were people cleaning his house, folding his laundry, doing things for Tom, personally - Mm-hmm.
- Sea Org members.
Amy: During that time, that's when I saw the abuses going on with David Miscavige.
We were in meetings with him very often.
And he's a very angry man.
If you said something that didn't please him, he would go off on you.
If you're a man, he would likely hit you, punch you, knock you down on the you know, choke you.
I witnessed that at least on a dozen occasions.
My view of David Miscavige when I was in the Church was that he was protecting Scientology, he was making great things happen for Scientology.
When you're talking about David Miscavige with Scientologists, you're talking to someone like the Pope.
Could you imagine somebody saying, "Oh, the Pope hit somebody"? You'd be like, "Okay, you're insane.
" Amy: I saw abuse and punchings and, you know, wrestling around, and I would rationalize it all by saying, "Well, because we're clearing the planet.
Because we we have no time.
Because David Miscavige has most of the pressure.
Because people are failing on their jobs, and he's having to do it himself, that's why it's okay that he is beating people.
" I was rationalizing.
My mind immediately would justify why this crap was okay.
And then I had a blinding realization.
I realized that what I'm doing is I am rationalizing insanities.
She's seen people abused over and over again.
What should she do? Write a report that David Miscavige is beating people? To who?! There's no one above him.
Now what? I realized that what I'm doing is I am rationalizing insanities.
And when I realized my mind was doing that, I started to see things crystal clear as it's happening.
And I would go, "That's not okay.
That's criminal.
I don't stand for that.
Why am I here to 'make a better planet' when what's right in front of me is despicably disgusting?" It's just crazy how it happens, where something happens to you where you just stop thinking in crazy terms - and think in reality.
- Yeah.
And I started becoming very defiant.
Right.
And not appreciated.
- Right.
- Because Because I would call - things the way they were and - To put it mildly.
To put it mildly.
Amy: The Rehabilitation Project Force is basically for Sea Org members who get in big trouble.
You run everywhere you go.
You do hard, manual labor.
You call everybody "sir.
" You have no communication in and no communication out within that group.
Mike: It's a thought reform program for members of the Sea Organization to get them back with the program and no longer being, uh, troublesome or not doing what they're supposed to do or thinking bad thoughts.
Amy: I didn't agree with things, and I caused trouble.
And I wasn't gonna change my mind.
Our story about leaving is pretty interesting.
I am one lucky lady, just so you know.
I am so blessed to have him as my husband.
Um, he saved me from Scientology and the Sea Organization.
Uh, we were both in the Rehabilitation Project Force together in Florida.
And the concept of leaving is really scary, okay? 'Cause, number one, I got I joined so young, so I never went to high school, didn't have a bank account.
I didn't know how to drive a car, never cooked.
And you're taught that the outside world is just aberrated and criminal.
So it was kind of a really scary thing to me.
Imagine walking out of your house with zero money in your pocket, no one to call, no cellphone, no family, because usually, the family who was outside the organization, you weren't talking to.
So imagine, just start.
Start your life right now.
But I stood there in the Rehabilitation Project Force behind the gates, behind the security guards, seeing people drive by probably going to the beach, families, people laughing.
And I'm thinking, "Here I am for my fourth time in the Rehabilitation Project Force, and I want to do what they're doing.
" [Laughs.]
And I was just done.
So we originate that we want to leave.
So, of course, right away, you get separated.
- Mm-hmm.
- With individual security guards - on me and on him 24/7.
- 24/7.
You know, like, I had a security guard on me, and then a person sleeping outside the door.
And then there's a person outside the building being security guard for that building.
Then there's a roving security guard.
Then there's a guard at the gate.
- And the - So what what would happen? I mean, what would happen if you walk past the first security guard? If I try to get out of there? - Yeah.
- They're gonna chase me.
- If I If I succeed - But to chase you, - but you're a big guy.
- Yeah.
Physically, you could have probably gotten out.
- Sure.
Yeah.
- Right? - And that's how I finally did get out.
- No matter what the security.
- I finally said - So it's really mainly - a mental thing.
- It's totally mental.
Because you're trying to do the right thing.
- Right.
- You're not trying to - We're not wanting to hurt them.
- Right.
We're just I had enough.
I've been here for 27 years, - I don't want to be here anymore.
- Right.
You know, it's just ridiculous.
So anyway, I said, "Unless you want to shoot me in the [bleep.]
head, - we're out of here.
" - Right.
The Sea Org will go to whatever length they think they can get away with to keep someone from leaving.
They're not getting new people in, so they got to hang on to what they've got.
Amy: I'm gonna start a whole new life in the real world outside of Scientology, the only thing I've known since I was 14 years old.
I'm 42 at this point.
James: After Amy had left to go to the Church of Scientology, I said, "All you got to do is call me, 'cause I'll be there.
" And [Chuckles.]
27 years later, I got the phone call.
Amy: I finally arrive in Seattle.
And I'm walking down the corridor, and I can see my dad.
I didn't have my daughter in my life for 27 years.
But when you love a child, you love a child with everything you have.
And when that child comes back, that's unconditional love.
We've never had a problem reconnecting, none whatsoever.
I am so excited to see my mom, but I was worried, 'cause her husband's still in.
She was still a Scientologist at that point.
And they both could basically get in big trouble.
I was very nervous that they were gonna get to her and that they were going to convince her that the right thing to do would be to disconnect from me.
They usually start going after your Scientology family and friends.
And they will try to talk the family member or friend into disconnecting from you and shunning you.
Amy: I mean, it's just crazy.
I need to get to her first.
Leah: One of the Church's weapons is how they deal with family members who have left the church.
For a Scientologist, being declared a suppressive person is It is a fate worse than death.
Before I left the Church of Scientology, I did every single thing they asked me to do, so that I would not get declared a suppressive person, because I have family in Scientology.
I know the ramifications of the disconnection policy.
I've seen it with other people and breaking up families and how devastating it is.
And I am very close with my family and especially my mom.
Leah: They usually start going after your Scientology family and friends, and they will try to talk to the family member or friend into disconnecting from you and shunning you.
Amy: I was worried that they were going to convince her that the right thing to do would be to disconnect from me.
I need to get to her first.
So I went down to her house, and I start telling her my whole story.
And during that time when we were speaking at her house, there was a knock on the door.
So she said, you know, "Go hide in the back room.
" So I ran to the back room, which is just this little bedroom.
Bonny: The ethics officer from the Church came to visit.
That's like the enforcer in the Church.
Amy: I'm just trying to listen.
What are they gonna tell my mom? An hour passes.
I'm sitting there on the bed.
That was when I started worrying, "Are they actually getting to her?" So what he was telling me was that my daughter was evil, and everything she touched was poison, and that she'd done so much damage to the church, and that I should have nothing to do with her.
And she was now a suppressive person.
I mean, if you read about what a suppressive person is, this is a person who loves that people are destroyed.
This is a person who loves when people are in pain.
So if you have that idea, that suppressive people are these other things that come out of the ground, that are devils, that No, you never think you're gonna be considered one of those people as a Scientologist, ever.
I, at that point, didn't mind being declared.
They could've declared me a thousand times.
I didn't care.
But I cared for Mark.
My husband worked his whole life 30-some years in Scientology.
I didn't want him to give up his dreams or his wife.
I mean, we do love each other, you know? Leah: In Scientology, you're also led to believe, by disconnecting from your son or daughter or brother or divorcing your husband, is because you're helping them to get back in the good graces.
By you saying, "I'm not talking to you," will straighten you out.
You will come to your senses and come crawling back to the church to get help.
Bonny: My husband was getting pressure.
"Is your wife in contact with her daughter?" So, there you have it.
I have a husband which I absolutely adore, I've been married to 34 years now, and I have a daughter which I absolutely adore, and I have a choice.
Bonny: So, there you have it.
I have a choice.
So I told her at that point that I was gonna have to disconnect from her.
[Voice breaking.]
That wasn't a good day.
So what do I do, you know? I just hug her, knowing that it's gonna be the last time.
[Crying.]
When people leave Scientology and they lose everything, they realize family was the most important thing.
I've always been a very up person, you know? I snap out of things very, very quickly.
I had no idea what people were talking about when they said they got depressed and stayed that way.
I got depressed, and I stayed that way.
Amy: My aunt Colleen called me, and she said, "Your mom is depressed.
She feels like her heart has been ripped out of her chest.
She doesn't see a reason to keep living.
I'm worried that she's suicidal.
" All of my life, I had never contemplated suicide or anything like it.
But I was sure looking at the end of that tunnel, and there was no light at the end of that tunnel.
So, I went down there in front of the house.
[Sobs.]
In front of her house, and I just scooped her up and hugged her like I don't think we've ever hugged before.
She described to me what was racing through her head at that time, which was if I can say the "F" word, she said, "[Bleep.]
everybody.
[Bleep.]
everything.
" Didn't matter.
Didn't matter what was gonna happen at this point.
All right.
I'd be divorced.
I'd be on the streets.
I can find me one of those shopping carts.
I'm okay.
I'm gonna be just fine.
Amy: We said, "It doesn't matter if they want to declare us to the moon and back.
They are not winning.
They are not ripping us apart.
" We started seeing each other every day.
[Laughs.]
Every day.
Now where I am in my life is, um, I currently have stage-4 cancer, so, um, I got a new battle.
[Chuckles.]
And, um [Clears throat.]
And my family, bless their heart, every single one of them couldn't be more supportive.
They have been warm and loving, and we just have the best of the best.
So, so there, Scientology.
Don't you ever break up another family [Chuckles.]
you bastards.
I know I can't say "bastards," but they deserve it.
Mike: There aren't many stories like this.
I wish it could happen with every family.
If that were the case with every family, then disconnection would be no tool at all to control Scientologists.
Amy and Bonny's story really touched me because they persevered in the end, you know? Bonny was like, "Screw it.
I choose my daughter.
" I've got two kids that are still there, and I can't, in good conscience, walk away from that and say, "It's too hard.
It's never gonna happen.
" And I look around, and I go, "Who else is gonna take up the fight?" - Well, Leah is.
And I - You are.
And I love her for it, because she doesn't have to.
I helped to promote this organization.
I defended it.
I helped people to stay in it.
I have some making up to do.
Woman: The lady expelled from the church for having sexual relations with someone she was ministering to, a violation of professional conduct in any church.
Amy Scobee served her church for 27 years.
It's a lifetime.
It's a lifetime of blood, sweat, and tears to something that just turns its back on you.
Not only does it turn its back on you, but it goes after you.
It tries to destroy you.
And then it tries to take away the family that you were fighting to keep together.
I feel a tremendous responsibility to bring justice to some of these people who have been victimized by you.
I get told I'm going to be declared if I don't disconnect from my mom.
We're hearing the same story over and over again mental abuse, sexual abuse, people being imprisoned.
David Miscavige physically assaulted me five separate times.
This was [bleep.]
violent.
I thought he was gonna kill somebody.
I had no idea this was going on.
When I first started filming this show, I thought I would just expose the abuses.
Now I'm feeling like that's not enough.
They just took their security truck, and they just ran me right off the road.
These people are actively destroying people's lives.
The limit is really what can you get away with.
The intimidation tactics, the cameras in people's faces, anything was fair game when it came to dealing with critics of Scientology.
Hey, who you getting that for? That's my garbage.
I thought the worst, I had already heard.
But it keeps getting worse.
They both have their phones pointed this way.
Now the church is coming after me.
- Why were you taking video of us? - I'm waiting for a person.
You're gonna tell me that you're not a private investigator? This is taking it to a level that is so [bleep.]
vile.
I'm not gonna be intimidated.
The Church will get exposed.
And I'm not gonna stop.