David Miscavige

Spiritual leader

• Born: April 30, 1960
• Place of Birth: Bristol, Pennsylvania

Significance: David Miscavige has been the head of the Church of Scientology since the death of its founder, L. Ron Hubbard, in 1986.

Background

David Miscavige and his twin, Denise, were born on April 30, 1960, in Bristol, Pennsylvania, to Loretta Miscavige, a nurse, and Ronald Miscavige, a cookware salesperson and trumpeter. Miscavige also had an older brother, Ronald Jr., and a younger sister, Lori. They grew up in Willingboro, New Jersey, a post–World War II suburban development. There, he played basketball, baseball, and football. During the summers, his family vacationed at the Jersey Shore; in winter, they skied in the Poconos. He attended Pennypacker Park Elementary School and a Catholic church.

In 1968 a business acquaintance introduced Miscavige’s father to Scientology, explaining it was a philosophy that could improve one’s confidence, health, and interpersonal relationships. Scientology, the brainchild of science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, began in the 1950s as a series of ideas about a new form of therapy known as dianetics, and by the late 1960s, had developed into a religious movement with thousands of members. Miscavige’s father began attending meetings on it and, the next year, decided to see if it would help David with his severe asthma. The elder Miscavige took him to a Scientology practitioner, who had him do a mental exercise that convinced him he could control his asthma.

Miscavige Sr. then began promoting Scientology and, in 1971, went to the Scientology center at Saint Hill Manor in East Grinstead, England, for training to rid his mind of negative, subconscious thoughts. In 1972 Miscavige, his mother, and his siblings joined his father. There he, his brother, and his twin were taught how to conduct auditing (spiritual counseling) sessions. After fifteen months, they returned to the Philadelphia area in the summer of 1973 and spent another brief period in Saint Hill in 1974.

Scientology Career

Upon their permanent return to the United States, the Miscavige family settled in Broomall, Pennsylvania. There Miscavige attended Marple Newtown High School. Dissatisfied with the drug culture at his school, he dropped out on his sixteenth birthday. He moved to Clearwater, Florida, to work at the Flag Land Base, a Scientology center established by L. Ron Hubbard.

Miscavige joined the Sea Organization, Scientology’s priestly order. Assigned to the Commodore’s Messenger Organization, his duties included ensuring management followed Hubbard’s instructions. He soon took on other roles, including training and reviewing staff and shooting photos for promotional brochures. In 1977, after ten months in Clearwater, Miscavige moved to California to film training videos and to work directly with Hubbard. His power steadily rose. In 1979 he was promoted to an action chief, overseeing teams that investigated other locations’ compliance with organizational policies.

By the end of 1980, Hubbard had become a recluse. By then, Miscavige had acquired significant authority and allegedly become Hubbard’s gatekeeper. In 1981 he compelled Hubbard’s wife, Mary Sue, to resign; about two years earlier, she, eight other management leaders in the organization’s Guardian’s Office, and two other Scientologists had been indicted and convicted on charges of conspiracy to illegally obtain government documents from the Internal Revenue Service and other agencies. Hubbard then abolished the Guardian’s Office and, in 1982, restructured the organization. He created a separate corporation, the Religious Technology Center, to manage his assets and made Miscavige its head.

After Hubbard died in 1986, Miscavige assumed the leadership of the organization, much to the consternation of some organization leaders. They insisted Hubbard had planned for a committee to lead after his death. In 1987, Miscavige became the chair of the Religious Technology Center, dedicated to the preservation of Scientology.

By ousting the scandal-tainted founder’s wife and others in top management, Miscavige reshaped the organization’s reputation and helped it to gain credibility as a legitimate spiritual movement. He ended a forty-year struggle with the Internal Revenue Service in 1993 when he persuaded it to grant the organization tax-exempt status as an organized religion. He then embarked on several expansion programs to grow the organization and gained many new members, increased participation in auditing, and built numerous centers throughout the world. According to the Religious Technology Center, membership more than doubled under his leadership in the early 2000s. Into the early 2020s, Miscavige regularly gave addresses at major Scientology events. In 2022, however, Miscavige stopped making public appearances in what many deemed a strategy to avoid being served papers in a federal trafficking lawsuit. In 2023, controversy continued to surround Miscavige and Scientology though many remain devoted to the religion.

Impact

Miscavige remains a highly controversial figure. He has transformed Scientology into a much larger spiritual movement than its founder did. The movement’s members include many high-profile celebrities, including Tom Cruise, John Travolta, and other stars of the Hollywood film industry. Despite improving its public image, Miscavige and Scientology still have their detractors, and some former members accuse the movement of being a cult. The strongest of these are former members who claimed Miscavige was abusive and domineering and used donations to fund a lavish lifestyle. Several wrote books describing harsh treatment, including isolation from society, prohibitions on contact with family members outside the group, and punishments involving lengthy confinement and severe beatings. The movement has also been party to a number of lawsuits and conflicts with government authorities during his tenure as leader, including a 2023 federal lawsuit that alleges Scientology played a role in trafficking children who grew up in the church. Several lawsuits related to sexual abuse of minors filed against both the church and Miscavige were held up in court because the plaintiffs were unable to find Miscavige to serve required documents. Court officials expressed frustration at the tactic, which both delays legal action and costs plaintiffs money. In 2024, Miscavige's attorney also filed a motion asking the court to not allow notice by publication. This legal process allows plaintiffs unable to personally serve papers in a suit to provide notice by printing it in a newspaper. In one high profile case filed in August 2023 by King of Queens actress Leah Remini, Remini claimed she was subjected to harrassment by the church. The actress left Scientology in 2013 and spoke negatively about her experiences in the church afterward. In March 2024, a judge ruled that some of the statements made against Remini by the church were covered under First Amendment rights, but ruled that action on other defamation charges alleged by Remini could go forward. The trial in Remini's case was set for 2025.

Personal Life

Miscavige and his wife, Michelle “Shelly,” married in 1982. His wife was last seen publicly in September 2005, though Los Angeles police reported they had located her after a missing person report was filed in 2013. A number of Miscavige’s relatives have joined—and left—Scientology. His brother, sister-in-law, and niece Jenna left in the early 2000s; his niece wrote a memoir detailing her disillusionment with Scientology and him. Miscavige’s father and stepmother, both Sea Organization members, also left Scientology in 2012. Miscavige reportedly hired private investigators to surveil his father, which he later recounted in his own book about Miscavige. Miscavige’s sisters remain members of Scientology, but they and Miscavige are estranged from their father, who, they allege, abused them as children.

Bibliography

Aron, Hillel. "Judges Frustrated as Scientology Head David Miscavige Dodges Summons." Courthouse News Service, 8 Feb. 2024, www.courthousenews.com/judges-frustrated-as-scientology-head-david-miscavige-dodges-summons/. Accessed 12 Oct. 2024.

Blankstein, Andrew. "Scientology Leader's Wife Located by LAPD after Leah Remini Inquiry". Los Angeles Times, 9 Aug. 2013, https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-scientology-leaders-wife-found-lapd-closes-missing-persons-case-20130809-story.html. Accessed 12 Oct. 2024.

“David Miscavige: A Biography.” Scientology, www.scientology.org/david-miscavige. Accessed 12 Oct. 2024.

Doward, Jamie. “David Miscavige: A Cult Figure in the Fame Game | Observer Profile.” The Observer, The Guardian, 7 July 2012, www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2012/jul/08/profile-david-miscavige-scientology. Accessed 12 Oct. 2024.

Maddaus, Gene. "Judge Dismisses Parts of Leah Remini’s Harassment Lawsuit Against Scientology." Variety, 14 Mar. 2024, variety.com/2024/tv/news/leah-remini-lawsuit-scientology-ruling-anti-slapp-1235942074/. Accessed 12 Oct. 2024.

McManus, Tracey. “Scientology Leader David Miscavige Concealed Whereabouts, Federal Judge Says.” Tampa Bay Times, 15 Feb. 2023, www.tampabay.com/news/clearwater/2023/02/15/scientology-leader-david-miscavige-concealed-whereabouts-federal-judge-says/. Accessed 12 Oct. 2024.

“Mr. David Miscavige.” Religious Technology Center, 1996–2020, www.rtc.org/david-miscavige.htm. Accessed 12 Oct. 2024.

Nark, Jason. “From Here to Scientology: Worldwide Leader Miscavige’s Philly-Area Roots.”The Philadelphia Inquirer, 3 Jan. 2012, www.inquirer.com/philly/news/new‗jersey/20120103‗From‗here‗to‗Scientology‗‗Worldwide‗leader‗David‗Miscavige‗s‗Philly-area‗roots.html. Accessed 2 July 2020.

Tobin, Thomas. “Feud Pits Miscavige against Miscavige.” Tampa Bay Times, 15 Jan. 2017. PressReader, www.pressreader.com/usa/tampa-bay-times/20170115/283961767210197. Accessed 12 Oct. 2024.

Tobin, Thomas C. “The Man behind Scientology.” Tampa Bay Times, 13 Sept. 2005, www.tampabay.com/archive/1998/10/25/the-man-behind-scientology. Accessed 12 Oct. 2024.