A former high-ranking Scientologist who became one of the Church’s fiercest critics has died, his family has revealed, after a battle with cancer.
Mike Rinder, 69, was a year and a half after his advanced esophageal cancer diagnosis and shortly after shared a photo with his wife and two children over Christmas.
In the snapshot, a smiling Rinder looks very different from the man seen alongside his wife Christie Collbran in photos taken just a few months ago, where the Australian-born dropout still had a full head of hair and a healthy complexion.
In the photograph taken on December 25, he was bald; He apparently lost his hair in just three months while struggling with his diagnosis.
In a heartfelt post showing the family during their best days, Collbran paid tribute to the father of two and co-host of the Emmy-winning docuseries Scientology and the Aftermath with Leah Remini.
Writing on Sunday, she did not confirm whether it was cancer that took her loved one’s life and did reveal the day of his death.
“Rest in peace, my sweet and beautiful husband,” the update began, before remembering one of the Scientologist’s most prominent detractors.
He had been part of the agency’s secretive Sea Org for more than three decades, before realizing he had been brainwashed after watching (and reflecting on) investigative journalist John Sweeney’s 2007 film Scientology and Me.
Mike Rinder, 69, was a year and a half after his advanced esophageal cancer diagnosis and shortly after shared a photo with his wife and two children over Christmas. He is seen here with fellow Scientologist-turned-whistleblower Leah Remini in 2018.
In the snapshot, a smiling Rinder looks very different from the man seen alongside his wife Christie Collbran in photos taken just a few months ago, where the Australian-born dropout still had a full head of hair and a healthy glow.
“Rest in peace, my sweet and beautiful husband,” Collbran wrote, revealing the news to the world.
“I speak for many when I say that the sadness and pain we feel reflects the depth of our unwavering love for you,” he continued.
‘His courage, bravery and integrity are unparalleled and will always inspire us. You have been the pillar of stability in our lives, filling our days with your strength, wisdom, love, laughter and devotion.
“The world will remember you.”
The post also contained Rinder’s last words, which Collbran proudly conveyed to the public.
“If you are reading this, I have detached myself from this mortal body in accordance with the immutable law that there are only two certainties in life: death and taxes,” the final message read.
‘My blog will remain an archive of over 4,000 posts and 300,000 comments.
“It has been a labor of love and passion that has allowed me to speak my mind and offer my perspective without external filters.”
Rinder and his wife of 12 years, Christie Collbran, are pictured here during a date night in September. She remembered her loved one in a heartfelt post on Sunday.
Rinder and Remini are seen at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in 2017, after finishing a documentary series that recalled their and others’ experiences in the Church.
The two started a podcast, which was canceled in 2018 after two seasons. Ridner was diagnosed with cancer five years later
There are Rinder’s well-known criticisms of the religion he became involved in as a child because of his parents.
“The only thing I really regret,” he added, “is not achieving what I said I wanted: ending the abuses of Scientology… and seeing (my son) Jack become an adult.”
Speaking to other whistleblowers such as Remini and the daughter of current chief David Miscavige, he proclaimed: “If you are in any way fighting to end those abuses, please keep the flag flying, never give up.”
He went on to reference his departure from the controversial organization, considering himself lucky to “live two lives in one.”
“The second,” he framed as “the most wonderful years anyone could wish for,” thanks to the fact that I spent them “with all of you and my new family.”
Rinder and Collbran, a former member who also fled the Sea Org at the time, married in 2013.
He was then almost 60 years old and spent almost half his life as Scientology’s international spokesperson and head of its Office of Special Affairs, while also serving on the Board of Directors of the Church of Scientology International.
At 52, he renounced the religion, fleeing two years after the departure of perhaps the only deserter more prominent than him.
Rinder was part of the agency’s secretive Sea Org for decades, before defecting in 2007.
He converted after watching journalist John Sweeney’s 2007 film Scientology and Me, and had been one of the religion’s fiercest critics.
Like Jenna Miscavige (pictured), the 40-year-old niece of leader David Miscavige, she worked at Scientology’s Sea Org for several decades. Subsequently, both began to publish and promote content critical of religion.
Jenna Miscavige, David’s 40-year-old niece, fled the Sea Org in 2005, and today, as Rinder had done for nearly a decade on her blog, she regularly posts summaries of her life in (and after surviving) the darkest moments. important to Scientology. powerful sect.
Today he lives in California with his two children. Like Rinder and his wife, the couple met at Church before leaving together in 2005.
The Church of Scientology “did everything it could to make our lives hell,” she said in a video posted two months ago, claiming that her marriage fell apart because of the distrust sown by the spy network she says the organization inserted into her life after she left. .
The church denied all of his allegations in a statement to DailyMail.com.
In 2015 and 2016, Rinder hosted Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath on A&E, alongside the King of Queens star.
Over the course of three seasons, the couple delved into their experiences and those of other former members in the Church, claiming, like Miscavige, that they were harassed after speaking out publicly and separating.
Following the show’s conclusion, Remini and Rinder continued their partnership with a Scientology: Fair Game podcast, which launched in 2020.
The religion currently counts stars such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta among its members.