John Travolta didn't 'bat an eye' after accusations against David Miscavige, claims Scientology leader's dad
John Travolta failed to face up to "abusive practices" in the Church of Scientology, according to the father of the movement's leader David Miscavige. Speaking to The Sun, Ron Miscavige described his son as a "corrupt ruler" and claimed David did not allow him to see his two daughters and grandchildren after he left the Church. Furthermore, Ron alleged he was constantly followed by private investigators who he believes were instructed to let him die when they thought he was having a heart attack.
But the 'Grease' star allegedly refused to believe Ron when he heard the harrowing tale. "Staff members can come and go, but as long as I can get my auditing, I can be happy," Travolta apparently remarked. The 84-year-old Ron Miscavige recalled to the newspaper how he was instantly ostracized when he left the Church in 2012. Ron said he tried multiple times to contact his other children, David's sisters Denise and Lori. However, he believes David did not allow it to happen. "All I wanted to do when I left was to get on my life, but I had private investigators following me, being paid $10,000 a week to report on all of my doings between eight in the morning and eight at night," Ron told The Sun.
"When I was being followed, I was shopping at a grocery store near my house, it was a summer's day and I had a pocket t-shirt on," he continued. "I opened the door to put the groceries in, bent over, my cellphone was in the left-chest pocket and I thought it was going to fall out, so I grabbed my cell with my right arm, unbeknownst to me were two private investigators watching in a blacked-out van, and one said: 'It looks like the target is having a heart attack, I’m going to call in'."
"He called Greg, the name of his handler, he said he’ll get someone on the phone, a few minutes later a person came on the phone, and said, 'Listen, if it’s his time to die, don’t intervene, don’t do anything, let him die'," Ron recalled. "On my website, we have that interview with the PIs telling the story of that actually happening," he added.
A police report published by the Los Angeles Times in 2015 noted that Miscavige had paid private investigators to follow his father after he left Scientology. At the time, the story made international headlines. It has now emerged that the story was leaked to the press by one-time Scientologist Lisa Marie Presley in a bid to help her old friend Ron, according to The Sun.
Ron wrote his New York Times Bestseller titled 'Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me' the following year. According to him, Travolta "didn’t bat an eyelid" when he heard the story because he just couldn't believe it. "I was told that John found out about the story of my daughters being disconnected, the meeting with Denise and Lori, the episode of the PIs thinking I was having a heart attack, the whole story," he said. "And at the end of it, John said: 'Staff members can come and go, but as long as I can get my auditing, I can be happy.'"
Ron and his wife Becky Bigelow, 57, have now speculated whether it's time for the 'Pulp Fiction' star to reconsider his association with Scientology — especially after the death of his wife from breast cancer last month and the 2009 death of his son Jett at age 16.
"Now that Kelly has passed, one would hope that John would come to his senses and leave Scientology," Becky told The Sun. "She was a major influence, she got right up to Operating Thetan Level Eight, which is the highest level you can get, whereas he would just get his sessions. He would never step away because she was so active."