#947 - Ron Miscavige

Joe Rogan (0:03)

Four, three, two, one. And we're live.

What's up, Ron?

Ron Miscavige (0:09)

I'm doing okay. You quit starting, I came in here 10 seconds ago, we're on the air, you know?

Joe Rogan (0:14)

I know, well, I wanted it to be that way. It's more natural. Sometimes some of the best stuff gets said off mic, so we've figured now how to do it, where people get in, and pretty much as soon as we sit down, we start talking.

Ron Miscavige (0:28)

No complaints.

Joe Rogan (0:29)

So, you contacted us after the Leah Remini interview, and you wanted to get on, and you have this book that you wrote. It's called Ruthless.

What's the correct pronunciation? It's Cavage, Miscavige?

Ron Miscavige (0:42)

No, Miscavige.

Joe Rogan (0:43)

Miscavige.

Ron Miscavige (0:43)

Yeah, the actual name of the book is Ruthless, Scientology, My Son David Miscavige and Me.

Joe Rogan (0:49)

Right, now let me just say this before we get started, because Scientology, this is the first time I've ever been contacted, they sent an email to my publicist, and they have a rebuttal to what you wrote, and their rebuttal is at a website, ronmiscavigebook.com.

And they want people to know about their website, which is scientology.org, and they have a statement. This is their statement. Ron Miscavige is seeking to make money on the name of his famous son, David Miscavige.

Oh, David Miscavige has taken care of his father throughout his life, both financially and by helping him in even the most dire circumstances. Ron Miscavige was nowhere around when David Miscavige ascended to the leadership of the Church of Scientology, mentioned by and working directly with the religion's founder, L. Ron Hubbard, and entrusted by him with the future of the Church. Any father exploiting his son in this manner is a sad exercise in betrayal. Mr. David Miscavige's far-reaching vision and unrelenting dedication has brought the Church of Scientology to where it is today, guaranteeing its future for generations to come. Scientologists worldwide love and respect Mr. Miscavige for his tireless work on behalf of their religion. So, that's their statement. That's what they wanted to say. And I feel like it's only fair. You know, we had Leah Remini on and we have you on, and I've had Louis Theroux on.

Ron Miscavige (2:31)

Right.

Joe Rogan (2:32)

And look, I feel like I don't know the story, but anytime a father is so disconnected from his son, they have to write a book about him. It's a sad time.

Do you feel like that?

Ron Miscavige (2:46)

No.

Joe Rogan (2:47)

You don't feel sad at all?

Ron Miscavige (2:49)

I don't feel that I just woke up one day and said, I'd like to write a book about Scientology.

And if I can give you a short, encapsulated statement, I think we could set a nice groundwork for the whole interview. You mind if I do that?

Joe Rogan (3:03)

Sure.

Ron Miscavige (3:05)

I was a Scientologist for 42 years.

Joe Rogan (3:08)

Were you raised in it?

Ron Miscavige (3:09)

No, I got my family in in 1970 But I was in the church for 42 years. The last 26 and a half years, I worked at the International Base in Hammett, California.

I escaped from that base on March 25th, 2012

Joe Rogan (3:26)

You escaped?

Ron Miscavige (3:27)

Escaped, that's right. I had to plan that escape for six months. We can go into this in more detail, but just let me give you the short story. About a year and a half later, there was a private investigator caught by the name of Dwayne Powell who was around the corner from my house looking at a house to buy so he could spy on me from that house. And there's no shit. So a lady in the neighborhood saw him and she thought he was a drug dealer or up to no good. So she called the West Dallas Police and Nick Pye came out and confronted the guy.

He gave Nick some shit and Nick said, hey, listen, man, you're under arrest. Do you mind if I look in your car? So Nick went to the van and opened it up and in a trunk, there were five license plates from five different states. There were two handguns, a stun gun, two rifles, one fitted up with a silencer and 2000 rounds of ammunition.

So they arrested the guy. They took him in for interrogation and then his son came looking for him because his son was a partner in this business. The father's name was Duane Powell and the son was Daniel Powell.

Daniel came looking for his father and by the way, if you want to hear these interviews, they're on Tony Ortega's website. Tony Ortega, The Underground Bunker. You can hear what I'm telling you. So Daniel is telling me how they operated. They were getting paid $10,000 a week to follow me and report on my doings from eight o'clock in the morning till eight o'clock every night. An incident happened in Janesville, Wisconsin.