Scientology boss David Miscavige threatens to sue his own father over tell-all memoir

Lawyers for David Miscavige have threatened to sue the Scientology leader’s father over a memoir in which the elder Miscavige claims that, under the younger Miscavige, Church members have been “subjected to deprivation and violence” while detained at a punishment centre called “the Hole” - an accusation the Church has always denied.

Long-time Scientologist Ron Miscavige left the religion in 2012. His book, Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me, is set for publication in the US, UK and Ireland on 3 May. Journalist Tony Ortega, who has spent years investigating the Church of Scientology, published a letter from David Miscavige’s lawyers to UK publishers Silvertail Books on his website.

In the letter, Johnsons Solicitors said the memoir was “highly defamatory,” and warned that if the publisher released it as planned, “in total disregard for the truth,” David Miscavige “will be left with no alternative but to seek the protection of UK/Irish defamation and other laws.” It is thought a similar letter was sent to St Martin’s Press, the book’s US publisher.

Among the “malicious, false, misleading” claims made in Ruthless, the letter said, are allegations that Mr Miscavige “seized power” from Scientology’s founder, L Ron Hubbard, that the Church’s so-called “Gold Base” in California has “appalling conditions” and does not permit Scientology staff to leave, and that Mr Miscavige hired private detectives to monitor his father.

According to a police report uncovered by the Los Angeles Times last year, Ron Miscavige’s car was tracked, his emails read and he was followed. Florida-based investigator Dwayne Powell was arrested in 2013 near Milwaukee and allegedly told police he had been paid $10,000 (£6,900) through an intermediary, on behalf of the Church of Scientology, to follow Ron Miscavige “full-time”.

At the time, David Miscavige and the Church denied any connection with Mr Powell. The Church did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the book and its claims. In an interview with ABC News, to be broadcast in full on Friday, Ron Miscavige said his estranged son “wasn’t always that way… He was a loveable kid, he had a great sense of humour. We got along great.”

Most of the claims in Ruthless are thought to have been aired previously, including in journalist Lawrence Wright’s 2013 book, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief. A bestseller in the US, Wright’s book was not published in the UK.

Ron Miscavige is not even the first family member to write a Scientology tell-all. David Miscavige’s niece, Jenna Miscavige Hill, left the religion in 2005 and published her critical memoir Beyond Belief in 2013. Silvertail’s publisher Humfrey Hunter told the Hollywood Reporter he would release the book regardless of the threat of legal action.

“My plans for the book haven’t changed at all,” he said. “Full legal due diligence has been carried out on the manuscript and I am both confident in its integrity and very proud that Silvertail is publishing it. Ron’s story is an important one, and he is a brave man to be telling it.”