Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath

- If you talk to the staff they'll tell you

it's a worker's paradise.

It couldn't be a better place to work.

This is where we live.

- It's really extraordinary the amount of care

that goes into making sure we're doing well,

that we have everything we need.

- All the way down to a personal staff dentist.

Everything is in-house.

Like, you have all these facilities

that you need for production.

This really is a distraction-free environment.

- We've been reporting on allegations of physical abuse

inside the Church of Scientology.

The allegations have been made by a number

of former high ranking Scientologists

against the church's leader, David Miscavige, himself.

- I was personally beat up on five separate occasions

by the head of Scientology, David Miscavige.

- The veins are popping in his neck,

and I am going, "What in the hell is going on"?

I had no idea what wrath

and punishments would be levied on me

if I even blinked the wrong way

in dealing with the subject.

- They're watching every move of every person on the property

so that nobody could get out.

- Scientology presents a public image

to the world and even to Scientologists

that the Gold Base is paradise on Earth.

It is the pinnacle of the technology of Scientology.

It isn't. I know.

I lived there for 20 years.

- I am the writer of the textbooks of Scientology.

The aim and goal is to put man

in a... a mental condition, uh,

where he can solve his own problem.

- Without any Scientology organization,

things are not gonna change on this planet.

After years of slowly

questioning Scientology...

Leah Remini and her very public break

with Scientology...

Scientology, what they do...

trying to destroy people,

trying to destroy their families when they leave.

They create a lot of people

who are willing to fight against them.

- Scientology takes tax-free dollars

and ruins people's lives.

- This is not the life that I wanna live.

I wanted to end my life.

- Some people it takes a year, some people it takes ten years

of just peeling that onion of how you were manipulated

and made to think.

- This season we really needed to focus on

the reason why Scientology is able

to do the things that they do

is because they have tax-exempt status.

The people who have bravely

come on and told their stories

have not told those stories in vain.

They are having an impact.

- We're presenting our case to the world,

to the FBI, to the IRS.

- The most important thing that has to be done is

the persistent telling of the truth,

and that's what you're doing.

You have to continue to fight.

You have to continue to fight for what's right.

Hey, how are you?

It's good to see you. - So nice to see you.

- Good to see you. - Good to see you.

Tonight we're gonna be talking to former executives

at the Gold Base,

who all experienced abuse themselves,

but also witnessed abuse to others

who are still there.

Amy Scobee, Jeff Hawkins,

Marc and Claire Headley, and Mike Rinder,

who were all there at the Gold Base.

We are obviously doing an episode about the Gold Base

and the abuses that occurred there,

but also the missing executives.

'Cause we all know that they're being held

at the Gold Base. - Yes.

- So, we wanted to talk about the Gold Base.

And, you know, it's funny because I was telling Mike

on the way over here, like, "what"... like,

"What haven't we said? Like we've already said,"

and he goes, "We actually never told this story."

And it's so crazy, 'cause we all believe that

the story is out there and being told,

and why isn't anybody doing anything about it?

- In 1978, L. Ron Hubbard shot a movie

on the golf course at Golden Era Productions.

He decided it would be an ideal property to make

the international headquarters of Scientology,

so he bought it.

Even though he had been there to shoot the movie,

he never lived there.

He did have a house... A small house there

that we was supposed to live in.

But nevertheless, it was established

as an area that would be safe for him.

It had security measures put in,

in the event that Hubbard did come there.

The fences were put up, a guard gate was established,

all of these things to prevent people

from being able to come onto the property

unannounced or undetected.

That to this day remains a purpose of their security.

- While also being the international headquarters,

though, public Scientologists were never allowed

to know the location.

- Yes, it was a confidential location,

and I just never knew where it was.

- In 1986, after L. Ron Hubbard had died,

Miscavige basically took over the Gold Base.

He moved there in 1987,

he became the capo di tutti capo of Scientology,

and he set up residence at Gold.

Miscavige now has stepped into the role of L. Ron Hubbard

- What... what other security measures?

Let's go through that. - We used to have...

Every week we would have a thing called "renovations,"

which we did on... on Saturdays,

and we would install Ultra Barrier

on all the fences, which is... it's about

a two to three-inch razor barrier.

So, if you were trying to get in from the outside

or out from the inside,

you would get sliced up by those.

We put microphones in the ground,

outside of the property.

- There's also motion sensors on the fences,

and there were floodlights installed

all around the entire property

so that they could light it up like a baseball stadium.

- It was lit up like the Berlin Wall.

And then the security force

that could be dispatched at any moment

and they would drill that response time

to make it faster.

- So, they have the security rover bikes,

and they also have an SUV

that can drive around all the roads.

So, if you do escape over the fence

they're gonna know the instant it happens.

- And people ask, well, you know,

"If you were out in the free world,

"or you got over the fence,

"what does it matter if there was a light on you?

Like, you made it out."

- Yeah, but there's nowhere to go.

That property is a 4- or 5-mile walk

before you come to the first actual civilization

that can do anything. - Yeah.

Unless someone's waiting for you on the highway,

they're gonna catch you because...

You can't write someone a letter,

all mail ingoing and outgoing is opened and read.

What are they looking for?

- They wanna see if you're talking about leaving

or meeting up with somebody or telling somebody,

"Hey, David Miscavige

"is... is dealing out beat downs here.

Come rescue me."

- Sometimes family members would send in phones,

'cause they would say, "Well, you never call.

Here's a... here's a phone."

And that would get confiscated.

- So, you guys had no access to telephones?

No. - Did you have access to 911?

No. - And how do you know that?

- The internal phone system, you have to get a line out

in order to call.

If you wanted to make a phone call out,

you would have to call reception and say,

"I need you to call a number for me."

Tell her the number, then she would dial it,

and then she would connect you with that person.

I worked over staff training,

staff morale, staff counseling,

so I've witnessed so many stories

about what measures would be gone to

to make sure that staff did not have easy access

to the outside world.

- There was a... a thing at the... at that base

called "the perimeter council." - Yeah.

- And the perimeter council consisted of people like Claire

and others who were in certain positions

responsible for the security of the property,

the well-being or the control of the staff.

And they met once a week and had this list...

- List. - The perimeter list.

- Of threats. It was called the Threat List.

- And the way you got on the perimeter list,

Marc, would be something, like,

in your personal, private "counseling" sessions