Juliette Lewis wants on ‘Red Table Talk’ — and here’s what Jada Smith should ask her

By now you’ve no doubt seen various recaps of yesterday’s “Red Table Talk” episode featuring Leah Remini and Jada Pinkett Smith, including our own. As we said yesterday, Leah made the most of her appearance, and a huge new audience was exposed to Scientology’s controversies.

But for us, one of the most interesting things about the show occurred before the episode actually aired.

When Jada put up a preview of the show on Instagram, one person she heard from was Scientologist actress and musician Juliette Lewis.

 
What Juliette is offering here is classic Scientology celebrity handling: Ignore the controversy brought up by others, and offer to talk about how Scientology has helped in her life.

And if Jada had Juliette on the show, that’s what she’d get — a string of vague promises that Scientology is helpful, can unlock your potential, but maybe isn’t for everyone. (Exactly, for example, the script that Jenna Elfman followed on a recent appearance on People TV when she was asked specifically about the controversies revealed in Leah’s series and the HBO film Going Clear.)

If Jada is game and has Juliette on her show, we hope Jada would ask some real questions — and specifically about the allegations regarding Scientologist actor Danny Masterson.

Masterson has been under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles District Attorney for more than two years now regarding allegations by four separate women (three of them who were Scientologists) that they were violently raped by him. We are still waiting for DA Jackie Lacey to make up her mind about whether to charge Masterson.

In the meantime, we’ve learned a lot about Masterson’s accusers, and about their connections to other Scientology celebrities.

We’ve told you about the accuser we’re calling Victim B, for example, a Scientologist who reported her 2003 rape to the church itself. Scientology responded by putting her through expensive counseling, trying to convince her that being a victim in this lifetime was related to what she had done in her past lives, eons ago.

A Daily Beast article revealed that Victim B’s mother wrote multiple letters to Scientology leader David Miscavige at the time, complaining about the way her daughter was being treated. We have obtained copies of those letters, and they also mention how Victim B’s own young daughter was also affected by the church’s reaction to her allegations.

At the time, Victim B lived just two blocks from Juliette Lewis and her husband at the time, skateboarder Steve Berra. Berra had a daughter from a previous relationship who was so close to Victim B’s family, Berra’s daughter went on family vacations with Victim B’s family.

But when Victim B reported her rape by Masterson to the church, the letter from Victim B’s mother says, Berra was instructed by the church to keep his daughter away from Victim B’s family. The letter says that the family appealed to the church and the children were allowed to see each other again, but then the separation order came down a second time.

Victim B herself was close to Juliette and Berra, but after she made her allegations to the church, she never saw them again.

It is literally impossible that Juliette Lewis was unaware that Victim B had made her rape allegations to the church, or that Juliette’s then-stepdaughter was prevented from spending time with Victim B’s family.

And for that reason, we really hope Juliette does go on Jada’s show, and here are some questions Jada should ask her…

— Why would the Church of Scientology have Juliette keep her stepdaughter from spending time with a family she enjoyed being with? A family she had vacationed with?

— How does it make sense for Scientology to have a rape victim pay $15,000 for past-life counseling to find out why she deserved to be a victim in her current lifetime?

— According to the documents, Victim B’s daughter was traumatized by the disconnection from her close friend. Was Juliette’s stepdaughter similarly affected? Did she ever ask her?

— Why does Scientology discourage victims from reporting their rape to the police? If Juliette knew that a close friend had been raped by another Scientologist, why didn’t she encourage Victim B to go to the police herself? Why, instead, did she cut off contact with her?

In 2004, a little more than a year after her incident, Victim B defied the church and reported her allegations to the LAPD. As the Huffington Post reported, Scientology responded by having numerous members submit affidavits disagreeing with Victim B’s account and the LAPD closed the investigation. Her file then mysteriously disappeared — a fact that came to light when the police went to re-open her case in 2016, after she and the other three victims came forward.

Scientology, in other words, circled the wagons in order to kill the LAPD’s investigation in 2004. Masterson himself, through an attorney, paid a settlement to Victim B to keep her quiet.

Sure, Juliette, we’d love to hear your perspective on all of this. Should be a good time.

 
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Scientology’s celebrities and ‘Ideal Orgs’ — now with comments!

We’re building landing pages about David Miscavige’s favorite playthings, including celebrities and ‘Ideal Orgs.’ We’re hoping you’ll join in and help us gather as much information as we can about them, in order to build a record and maintain a watch as Scientology continues its inexorable decline — and yes, we finally have comments working on these new pages! Head on over and help us with links and photos and comments.

Scientology’s celebrities, from A to Z! Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

Scientology’s ‘Ideal Orgs,’ from one end of the planet to the other! Help us build up pages about each these worldwide locations!

Today’s Ideal Org: Stuttgart, Germany!

 
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Now on sale: Twice the Miss Lovely!

 
Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. What a pleasure it is for us to work with her on this after we wrote about her ordeal as a victim of Scientology’s “Fair Game” campaigns in our 2015 book, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, which is also on sale in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions.

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Tracking Scientology’s claims about membership — a new digital project with Jonny Jacobsen
[TWO years ago] After Scientologist is outed, leaders he fooled still stick up for his quack drug theories
[THREE years ago] SCIENTOLOGY DENIED: APPEAL SHOT DOWN AFTER YEARLONG WAIT
[FOUR years ago] RIFFER MADNESS: Scientology leader David Miscavige goes smeary in new court filing
[FIVE years ago] More Questions About Scientology-Style Drug Rehab And Insurance — This Time in Michigan
[SIX years ago] Scientology and the Presidential Election

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on November 6, 2018 at 07:00

E-mail tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

Our book, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2017 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Undergound Bunker (2012-2017), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. 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

Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | 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

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Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news