[Comments from a former Int Base staffer, a momentary incident of DM's [David Miscavige] crass tastelessness and disrepect of another person's creative efforts.]

I interacted with dm a number of times over several years. My impression was never positive and a few of them were downright ugly.

One time in particular shows, I think, the kind of person he is.

This was one halloween in 1994 or 1993. The movie "Interview with the Vampire" had recently come out. (By the way, the whole Int base had to go see that movie one Friday night, when a whole theater had been booked.)

The Int Base galley crew were trying to make Halloween special for the base staff. These crew were hard working and really did their best to make good food and a pleasant environment for meals. So for Halloween they put on a skit with a vampire theme.

As a part of the skit, a coffin had been propped against the wall right by dm's table, where the senior execs sat, and a Gold staff member, who was in the skit was in the coffin pretending to be a vampire. He stood in this coffin totally motionless for like 15 or 20 minutes while the base staff got their food. The idea was that the skit would start at a certain time, at which point this guy would awaken as a vampire and walk up to the spot in the room where the skit took place.

Now, this was all done for the entertainment of the base staff.

So, dm saw this guy in this coffin by his table and for some reason that only he can fathom, dm decided to bullbait him and pull him out of his pretended sleep. To do this dm got Maria Starkey, Norman's wife, to go over to the guy and open up his pants -- she undid the belt buckle, undid and unzipped his pants, and pulled the pants open so the guy's underwear were clearly visible. I guess dm thought this was funny.

Amazingly, this Gold staff member did not react at all. This prank by dm would have ruined the skit that these staff had obviously put a lot of work into (including making the fake coffin, costumes, rehearsing, etc.). Despite that, they pulled off the skit.

Most of the staff in the room (the large dining area in MCI) did not see this. They only saw the skit. But I happened to be sitting where I saw dm do this.

At the time, still trying to be a true believer, I could only try to not-is it. Now, I am appalled how dm could have so little respect for others.

[former Int Base staffer]

Go Back