Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me

Background

The book is described by its US publisher, St. Martin's Press, as "a riveting insider's look at life within the world of Scientology" which tells the story of "David Miscavige's childhood and his path to the head seat of the Church of Scientology told through the eyes of his father." According to the UK publisher, "Ron [Miscavige] traces the arc of David’s life from his early years to David’s eventual, stellar rise to power in Scientology; his brutal approach to running the organisation today; and the disastrous effects that his leadership has had on countless numbers of Scientologists and their families."

Ruthless tells of how Ron Miscavige and his family joined Scientology in 1971, living for a while in the UK, before moving back to Pennsylvania. By the age of 16 his son David had become a confidant of Scientology's founder, L. Ron Hubbard, and had joined the inner core of the church, the Sea Org. He took over the leadership of Scientology when Hubbard died in 1986.

In 2012, after gaining access to the full Internet via a Kindle, Ron Miscavige discovered new information about the church and subsequently left the Church of Scientology. The Los Angeles Times reported that he was put under surveillance by the Church, which was said to have paid two private investigators to watch him around the clock for 18 months at a cost of $10,000 a week. The surveillance was said to have been "all because [David] Miscavige feared that his father would divulge too much about the organisation's activities." At one point, the investigators were said to have phoned David Miscavige when they thought his father was having a heart attack and were allegedly told not to intervene: "if it was Ron's time to die, to let him die and not intervene in any way". Miscavige denied having ordered the surveillance or speaking to one of the investigators. The incident prompted Ron Miscavige to write the book. According to Tony Ortega, a journalist and writer on Scientology, Ruthless was originally titled If He Dies, He Dies in reference to the "heart attack" incident.

The book is the second memoir to have been published by one of David Miscavige's relatives, after his niece Jenna Miscavige Hill published Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape in 2012.

The release of the book on May 3, 2016 was preceded by an interview on ABC's long-running news show 20/20, broadcast on April 29, 2016.

Church response

The Church of Scientology International issued a response on April 29, 2016 regarding the ABC 20/20 Ron Miscavige Interview stating that Ron Miscavige was “seeking to make money” on his son David Miscavige’s name. The church said: “David Miscavige has taken care of his father throughout his life, both financially and by helping him in even the most dire circumstances. Ronald Miscavige was nowhere around when David Miscavige ascended to the leadership of the Church of Scientology, mentored by and working directly with the religion’s founder L. Ron Hubbard, and entrusted by him with the future of the Church.” The church then stated: "Any father exploiting his son in this manner is a sad exercise in betrayal.” The statement ended with an emphasis on David Miscavige’s "vision and dedication” to the church.

The Church of Scientology also built a website (ronmiscavigebook.com) as part of their response to the book.

Threats of legal action

The Church of Scientology has threatened to sue both the US and UK publishers of Ruthless. A letter sent to the UK publishers, Silvertail, alleged that the book "contains malicious, false, misleading and highly defamatory allegations" that Miscavige has "unequivocally denied" and which the letter claims "can only be for blatant commercial gain and vindictive ill will towards our client and his two daughters." It asserts that the book's publication reflects "an extremely difficult and an unfortunate family history" and that Ron Miscavige "would not have been in a position to have any direct knowledge or experience of the totally discredited and disproven claims". Humfrey Hunter, the owner of Silvertail, told The Guardian that he was "definitely going ahead – there's no question. I'm very confident that if they were to sue, we would be able to successfully defend the book and its content."