Joe Reaiche, in his playing days
In its newest edition, which hit store shelves in Australia a few hours ago, Woman’s Day has published a photograph taken last month showing actress Alanna Masterson, 24, and the son of Tom Cruise, Connor, 18, on a recent lunch date.
The magazine and the Bunker teamed up to ask Alanna’s father, Joe Reaiche, for his thoughts on his daughter spending time with Connor.
Reaiche is a former Australian rugby star who now lives on Long Island. When he left Scientology behind in 2005, his entire family cut off ties with him, including Alanna and her half-brother, That ’70s Show actor Danny Masterson.
Reaiche’s views on Alanna spending time with Connor Cruise were not very salutary.
“I worry that she will see this as some sort of validation of Scientology that she is now going out with him and she gets access to Tom Cruise and his lavish lifestyle,” Reaiche says. “Connor is the worst person in the world for her to date, because while she’s dating him there is no hope that anyone will open up her mind to see Scientology for the scam it really is. I call Tom the Prince of Darkness — he’s got a warped view of Scientology and I don’t want my daughter anywhere near him.”
Photos of Connor and Alanna showed up on various gossip sites last month.
Reaiche himself was lured into Scientology in 1978, while he was playing rugby. He in turn helped recruit fellow athlete Chris Guider, who we’ve written about in the past.
Reaiche says he was convinced to try Scientology by a young woman at a train station.
“She said Scientology could cure my groin injury — I feel stupid now but I got sucked in — they are very good at getting in your head,” he says.
He later married Carol Masterson, who already had sons Danny and Christopher Masterson (who would go on to be a regular in Malcolm in the Middle). Joe and Carol then had a son, Jordan, and daughter, Alanna. They lived in Florida and the entire family was heavily involved in Scientology.
“At that time we were living in one room that didn’t measure more than 20 feet by 15 feet and I was working all the hours under the sun for $20 a month, the roof over our heads and dinners that were just beans and rice,” he says.
“I paid for my kids to go to private Scientology school but it’s a total fraud — just endless looking through dictionaries,” he says. “My kids have taken courses on the Scientology mega yacht called the Freewinds that cost $650 an hour — and recently Alanna gave them $35,000 because they told her they could give her superpowers. That’s on top of the normal 50 to 100 grand a year she pays in fees.”
Scientology’s own publications show that Alanna has a healthy history of paying for church courses.
“In the time I was in Scientology they probably got $400,000 from me,” Reaiche says, “but the worst part is that I haven’t seen my kids since 2005 because when I became unhappy, the leadership ordered my family to cut off all ties from me.”
Reaiche was “declared a suppressive person” — Scientology’s version of excommunication — and he worries that he’ll never see his daughter again.
“They know if they can force my daughter to get together with Connor than they will both be in it for life,” he says. “That is my biggest nightmare.”
In 2010, Reaiche was interviewed about Scientology for Australia’s “Four Corners” program.
Reaiche says he’d like to talk to a fellow Australian about Scientology — Nicole Kidman, Connor’s mother.
“I’d love to talk to Nicole Kidman at this point because I bet she feels the same way — she is an ex-Scientologist who must be looking at her son Connor and wishing he wasn’t dating my daughter because she’s a Scientologist,” he says. “I bet Nicole wants a normal life for Connor just as much as I do for Alanna.”
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GEIR ISENE ON SCIENTOLOGY PUBLIC RELATIONS
Another video from Karen de la Carriere and J. Swift with former church member Geir Isene, former OT VIII from Norway.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on July 7, 2013 at 21:00
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