Right on schedule, the Church of Scientology posted a new page attacking Leah Remini’s guests just before her newest episode of Scientology and the Aftermath aired last night on the A&E network.
In last night’s show, Leah spoke with Nathan Rich and Tara Reile, who had spent some of their childhoods at Scientology’s notorious “Mace-Kingsley” ranches in California and New Mexico. Longtime Scientology Watchers were already aware of the horror stories that have come out of the reform-school ranches, which were designed to take troubled children off the hands of their Scientology parents. In last night’s episode, Nathan and Tara described the ranch as a labor camp, with extreme punishments and mind games played on children who had been abandoned by their families.
We interviewed Tara before the show aired, and she predicted that Scientology would talk with her family members and put together videos of them trashing her. And they did. Both Nathan and Tara got the usual Scientology treatment, with a page smearing them for speaking out.
We asked each of them if they wanted to respond, and they both enthusiastically said that they did.
Nathan’s portion of the attack page includes a photograph of him and his cat that we were immediately jealous of (see above). We really didn’t understand why Scientology thought this photo made Nathan look bad.
Here’s what Nathan sent us as a statement:
For the first time in over a decade I got a glimpse of the family members that have long disconnected from me. They did their makeup and got together to put their indoctrination on display.
First they say going to the Mace-Kingsley ranch was my only other option than going to jail.
I was 8 years old.
Then they say I was taken home by the police under the influence of drugs. In reality, the first time I did drugs was at the ranch.
They then confirm everything I’ve been saying the whole time, and confuse the timelines to make it seem I was in trouble before the ranch, when actually almost everything they are talking about happened at the ranch or immediately after it, and I might argue because of it.
I’m not surprised at how fast they turned against their own family. They have Scientology to support. They don’t need family members that aren’t part of that.
We then got a phone call from Tara, and talked to her about watching the episode.
“I thought Nathan did a great job,” she told us. “I was there with him during the taping, and that helped. And last night, we were on the phone talking to each other as it aired. I cried the entire time the show was playing.”
She says watching herself suppress her emotion as she told her story, trying not to break down on camera, just opened the floodgates for her as she watched the episode as it aired.
She then took a look at the page the church put up attacking her, which included videos of the aunt and uncle who had tried to talk her out of allowing the episode to air.
“Everything they said was predictable and it was all bullshit. You know, I grew up with this family, and they made it very apparent that I was adopted. And they had no problem reminding me of that my entire life. But this suicide thing. I wonder if an outsider, after looking at this, would really wonder why I had tried to kill myself,” she says.
“They always accuse me of lying and stealing, but I’ve never lived with any of them. They keep saying, ‘Tara was pure hell.’ Well, my dad kicked me out of the house when I was 12, and then I was sent to the ranch, and then they wouldn’t let me come home. I’ve never stolen from any of them, and I’ve never hurt anyone. The truth is, they don’t know me at all.”
In fact, Tara has not had an easy time of it, and she’s currently trying to move to a better situation for her kids. She put up a GoFundMe page last night if readers are interested in helping her out.
“I hope Nathan and I did a good job portraying the overall feel of that place,” she says. “I’m so glad I did it with him.”
——————–
Bernie Headley has not seen his daughter Stephanie in 4,899 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 45 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 1,108 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 1,882 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 2,656 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 2,002 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 2,496 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 1,536 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 1,248 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 774 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 4,863 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 2,003 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 2,323 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 2,298 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 654 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 4,956 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 1,062 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis for 1,465 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 1,338 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 919 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 1,424 days.
Mary Jane Sterne has not seen her daughter Samantha in 1,668 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 12,777 days.
——————–
Posted by Tony Ortega on October 11, 2017 at 07:00
E-mail tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
Our book, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.
The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2016 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Undergound Bunker (2012-2016), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…
BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists
GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice
SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts
Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | Scientology boasts about assistance from Google | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield
