In a special interview with EXCLUSIVE, Mike Rinder, the former hierarch of the anti-Scientology sect, shares his memories of Elvis Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley. Lisa Marie was so devoted to Scientology that she tried to even encourage Michael Jackson to join the organization when they got married in 1994.
Rinder arranged for the couple to have a private tour in the L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition on Hollywood Boulevard. However, the meeting didn’t produce any real result; Jackson was reportedly very uncomfortable and had a phobia of paparazzi despite there being very tight security on the premises.
Rinder was also introduced to Lisa Marie by Karen Hollander, the then president of the organization’s Hollywood headquarters, at a Scientology event. She asked Rinder to be a ‘coach’ to convert Michael, which he reluctantly agree to. He got to know Lisa Marie better during her marriage to Michael, where she revealed her struggles in the limelight and her husband’s paranoia.
Additionally, Lisa Marie was closely linked to the cult since she was a teenager, and during this time, she introduced Rinder to Leah Remini, another famous ex-member. Lisa Marie was also said to go to extreme lengths to find refuge from her celebrity status, such as taking drugs and dating rocks stars like Axl Rose along with trying out Scientology’s ‘purification’ process.
Rinder last talked to Lisa Marie over the phone in 2015, around the time that an anti-Scientology war had broken out and she was seeking refuge. He then put her in contact with a reporter from the L.A. Times and hasn’t heard from her since. It is believed she is in the process of finally cutting ties with the organization once and for all.
“A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology” by Mike Rinder was published by Gallery Books.