Our video source came through with another gem for us. Prepare for a trip down recent Scientology history as we present, in its entirety, the New Year’s Eve event which welcomed in the year 2006! Not only will you get to marvel at Captain David Miscavige as he gushes about the successes of 2005 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, but there are some great surprises for the student of Scientology.
Look who is pictured in the front row, for example: Leah Remini and her husband Angelo Pagan!
The year 2006 would turn out to be a very fateful one for Remini, who had grown up in Scientology. Later that year, she attended the wedding of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, dared to question why David Miscavige was there without his wife, Shelly, and then underwent months of behavior modification as punishment. As her book coming out in a few weeks will explain, that incident began her long process of leaving Scientology, which finally became public in July 2013.
Oh, but there is much more in this event for Scientology history buffs to salivate over. Just days before this shindig, Scientology had held the grand opening for one of its nuttiest facilities, the “Psychiatry: An Industry of Death Museum” on Sunset Boulevard that is operated by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights. CCHR is Scientology’s front group that lobbies against the psychiatric profession, and in rabid fashion.
It’s fun to see footage from the grand opening, so we can see who Scientology convinced to celebrate the place, which, among other things, blames the Holocaust on psychiatry…
And maybe the best highlight of this portion of the night is when Miscavige actually uses these words to describe the museum…
“Our final solution to end their reign of terror.”
Seriously! He actually called it that!
Miscavige makes this too easy.
You’ll then have to slog through (or skip over) a lot of hot air about the vaunted yellow-jacketed Volunteer Ministers and new Ideal Orgs, but then, at about 49 minutes into the night, there’s a fun testimonials video that we previewed for you on Saturday.
About an hour into the event is when things get really interesting. At that point, to deliver the good news about Narconon, Miscavige has the president of the Association for Better Living & Education (ABLE) come out to speak. And it’s none other than Rena Weinberg herself!
It’s sad and fascinating to see Rena on stage, doing her best to talk about Narconon expansion. Soon, she would be banished to The Hole — Mike Rinder, who was also a prisoner, saw her there — and Rena Weinberg has never surfaced since then. For the past nine years, she’s been disappeared by Scientology.
These days, Miscavige doesn’t trust anyone to speak at these events other than himself. But for this party, he lets several others do the talking for him. Besides Weinberg, there’s Greg Hughes, who talks about WISE, Scientology’s racket for sucking in chiropractors, dentists, and veterinarians. Heber Jentzsch is trotted out to talk about field staff members. (And he appeared a few months later at the 2006 Maiden Voyage event, which we already showed you.) But we were especially interested to see the person that Miscavige introduced to talk about SMI, Scientology’s mission network.
It was none other than Claire Edwards, the Sea Org lifer who happens to be the sister to fantasy and science fiction giant Neil Gaiman.
As you watch her talk about all the new missions and groups since the “Wake Up Call” (Scientology’s cute name for 9/11), you can really see the family resemblance to Neil.
Some other interesting people we happened to notice: In the front row were TV executive Terry Jastrow and his wife, actress Anne Archer, who is next to Erika Christensen and bassist Billy Sheehan and his wife…
Behind Brandy and Nancy Cartwright, we spotted Leah Remini’s mother, Vicki Marshall…
The Elfmans were there, of course…
And we think this might be Nazanin Boniadi, captured during a Dianetics-selling push in Santa Monica, which might have actually been from 2004.
And finishing things off is Stacy Francis singing Auld Lang Syne…
We’re sure you’ll spot other nuggets of gold, if you can manage to get through all three hours. Let us know what you find!
New Year’s Eve 2006
Part 1.1
Part 1.2
Part 1.3
Part 2.1
Part 2.2
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Bella’s wedding details
Tabloid reporter Chris White wanted to ask us a question a couple of weeks ago, so he let us into a secret — Isabella Cruise had quietly got married. Chris has now published his story in the Australian magazine Woman’s Day, which doesn’t post its stories to the Internet, so we’re going to paraphrase some things from Chris’s story which are relevant to our interests here.
Bella’s husband, Max Parker, Chris describes as a tech geek who happened to live in East Grinstead, near Scientology’s headquarters there, and that’s where the couple met, in town. The very expensive ceremony, Chris says, was a mix of Scientology and Christianity, and there were Scientologists among both the bridesmaids and the ushers. One of Max’s “best men,” for example, was Fabiano Calcioli, nephew to Neil Gaiman, and a part of the hard core English Scientology Gaiman clan.
Neither of Isabella’s parents, Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise, attended the wedding, and Chris says it was because Bella wanted the ceremony to be as private as possible.
As for the rumors we’re seeing that the wedding somehow suggests that Bella is leaving or has left Scientology, we don’t see it.
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BOOK NOTES
We didn’t get a chance to include photos in our book, so we’ve posted them at a dedicated page. Reader Sookie put together a complete index and we’re hosting it here on the website. Copies of the paperback version of ‘The Unbreakable Miss Lovely’ are on sale at Amazon. The Kindle edition is also available, and shipping instantly.
Tony Ortega’s upcoming appearances (and check out the interactive map to our ongoing tour)…
Oct 23: Sydney, Giant Dwarf Theatre (with Steve Cannane and Bryan Seymour)
Oct 25: Melbourne, venue secured (announcement coming later)
Oct 28: Adelaide, Wheatsheaf Hotel, (with Sen. Nick Xenophon)
Oct 30: Perth
Past dates: Santa Barbara (5/16), Hollywood (5/17), Orange County (5/17), San Diego (5/20), San Francisco (5/22), New York (6/11), Chicago (6/20), Toronto (6/22), Clearwater (6/28), Washington DC (7/12), Hartford (7/14), Denver (7/17), Dallas (7/20), Houston (7/22), San Antonio (7/24), Austin (7/25), Paris (7/29), London (8/4), Boston (8/24), Phoenix (9/15), Cleveland (9/23), Minneapolis (9/24), Portland (9/27), Seattle (9/28), Vancouver BC (9/29)
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Posted by Tony Ortega on October 5, 2015 at 07:00
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Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…
BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of LA attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists
GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice
SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts
PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer
The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill
The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield
