The Scientology celebrity blues: ‘Oh, Danny boy, the banks, the banks are calling…’

Last September we told you about something very strange we had run across looking through federal litigation: In 2013 Danny Masterson had begun a rather quixotic fight with the mortgage holders of his Hollywood house. Acting as his own lawyer in multiple lawsuits he filed, he had turned in nearly incomprehensible legal briefs that judges dismissed as a lot of nonsense.

Masterson and his wife Bijou Phillips were suing Bank of New York Mellon and the Mortgage Electronic Registrations Systems (MERS), making allegations that the loan on the house had been improperly transferred.

These days, Masterson and his wife Bijou Phillips live in a house they own in Santa Ynez, a town in Santa Barbara County, and they rent out the Hollywood Hills residence, which is on Hollyridge Drive just a few blocks north of Scientology’s Hollywood Celebrity Centre, and was once owned by rock legend Chuck Berry. Masterson bought the 4,323-square-foot house in 2007 for $2.995 million, with a promissory note of $1.995 million, according to court records. (Zillow says it’s worth about $4.4 million today.)

In the lawsuits that Masterson has filed, some with himself as sole plaintiff, others with Bijou, he argues that BNY Mellon and MERS have filed faulty paperwork and that it means he is under no obligation to continue making payments.

In the most recent lawsuit Danny and Bijou had filed, they had not only refused to pay the mortgage holders, but they also wanted $5 million in damages.

We also pointed out that Danny’s mother, Carol Masterson, filed a very similar case regarding a house in Park City, Utah, and with similarly incomprehensible legal filings that had kind of a sovereign citizen flavor to them. She lost her appeal on that, and in December she made a quick sale on the house before it could be foreclosed on, getting $1.5 million from a realtor who the same day put it up for sale for $3.3 million. (It sold for $3.2 million in April.)

Will Danny face the same issue with his house now that his lawsuits seem to have run out? For months the last entry on a federal docket was put there in March 2020, just as the pandemic hit. Our experts told us that even if his legal fight was over, Masterson was probably protected from being foreclosed on because of moratoriums associated with the health crisis.

The pandemic is ebbing, however, and we wondered if that might have an effect on the house. Two recent court documents suggest that it has. First, MERS filed an assignment of the house’s deed to BNY Mellon on December 28, which our experts tell us would be a necessary move before foreclosure proceedings could begin. Then, a few days ago BNY Mellon filed a notice with the court that it was replacing its attorney. Again, our experts tell us that suggests a move to take the house is about to begin.

Scott Pilutik, our lawyer, helped us out on our previous story about this litigation, and he says that he does think these recent moves by BNY Mellon suggest they’re about to go for the house. “The bank isn’t getting involved to move in. They’ll want to foreclose. So Masterson would be better off selling before that occurs.”

Like his mother Carol, Danny may face the prospect of selling his Hollywood home lickety-split before the bank can get its hands on it. And like his mother, he may take a bath on it. Or not — real estate is kind of nuts right now, and Danny may end up with a buying frenzy on his hands.

And there’s a complication, of course. The Hollyridge Drive house, and the one Danny actually lives in, the one in Santa Ynez, are what he put up to back the $3.3 million bond that’s keeping him out of jail while he’s awaiting trial on rape charges.

Just what Danny needs while he’s preparing for a trial that could possibly put him in prison for life: Selling a house that a bail bondsman has a marker on. What a headache.

 
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Where’s the proprietor?

We had another fun day in court Monday in Los Angeles, covering Danny Masterson’s latest arraignment. But rather than head straight home, we’re taking a brief detour and we will share that with you later this morning. Watch this space.

Update: Clearwater Beach is lovely, but we heard there was a diminutive ecclesiastical leader jogging here lately. Where is he?

 
The air bridge that connects from Tom’s private eleven-car garage.

 
The back view of the Fort Harrison Hotel, with the bungalows in the foreground. And the parcel Miscavige covets to the right.

 
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Source Code

“One day this part of the reactive mind which has been trying to keep a doll surviving on the Galaxy Gee Whizzes, from being destroyed by gorillas, gets a whiff of a fur coat and goes into total action. Takes over, right as out of that moment. You’ve got an emergency situation, instantly. You’ve got gorillas in the vicinity and it’s better not to inspect, even. People who turn around and really inspect things are very often amongst the wounded and dead. So what are you going to do? It means, that when you speed up things in the universe to too great a degree, on the false basis that you are ‘prone to non survival,’ but in the interest of keeping something surviving, you are then going to run into this timeless reactivity of action without inspection. Infinite dedications to the survival of forms and patterns.” — L. Ron Hubbard, June 9, 1961

Avast, Ye Mateys

“QUESTION: When are you going to dig this ship out of N/E? It will take a lot of action, not desk time. She is unbilled, undrilled and accepts rumours of my orders that aren’t true and rejects direct orders that are.” — The Commodore, June 9, 1970

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“There was the era of The Games Universes, the longest and most creative times of our existance. This lasted for trillions of what we consider years, perhaps much longer. Ron called this the Home Universe. This was a very creative and fun time. Games and adventures galore. Beautiful scenery, the physical challenges of handling different mest objects and bodies. Spook houses were quite popular for quite some time. Experiencing and enjoying other people’s creations became a big activity. Individuals and groups would go ‘universe hopping.’ It was really fantastic. The laws of MEST were codified and the knowledge of how to make stuff operate properly were worked out. MEST life was invented. The nature of time and space were agreed upon. Physics became more complex in order to make more and more different things which could interact. There were a few individuals who got very good at making complex universes. These individuals began creating most of the universes that others would visit to play and admire. They built universes that, after a time, visitors would consider their permanent home, their residence. This idea of residency was promoted and eventually pushed hard and even enforced by those who assembled these universes. This indoctrination went on for several million years, by our time, and was repeated with a few changes with each successive universe. One of the necessities of the birth-death cycle was amnesia. It was necessary to start each life with a clean slate. All was forgotten and forgiven. There were many occurrences in the past which reinforced this idea of starting clean which have been well explained by LRH.”

 
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Past is Prologue

1996: The Discovery Channel broadcast a program on hypnosis recently, which included a segment on Scientology. “A show on the Discovery Channel yesterday was on the subject of hypnosis. They discussed Scientology and its use of hypnosis. Said the Scientologists don’t call it that, but the effect is the same. The two high-level ex-Scientologists are none other than Robert Vaughn Young and his wife Stacy; also seen is a short bit with Steve Hassan, author of the excellent book ‘Combating Cult Mind Control.’ There was a demonstration of TRs, which was exactly what I was talking about in the paper I posted about how the Scientology uses mind control. Paul Grosswald, Vaughn & Stacy Young and Steve Hassan are all featured. The show also presented ways in which hypnosis can be constructively used, such as in helping people to overcome phobias, which I think is an important point for people to realize.”

 
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Random Howdy

“You need to word clear ‘whole track’ as well as ‘mass hysteria hypnotized role-playing pseudo-religious delusional Stockholm syndrome suffering suckers’.”

 
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Next hearing set for August 9. Trial tentatively scheduled for early November.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff’s sentencing to be scheduled.
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Pretrial conference August 21 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial conference set for June 18.

Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Oral arguments were heard on July 30 at the Eleventh Circuit
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Petition to US Supreme Court submitted on May 26. Scientology has until June 25 to respond.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: California Supreme Court grants review on May 26, asks Second Appellate Division to direct Judge Steven Kleifield to show cause why he granted Scientology’s motion for arbitration.
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach tax debt: Eleventh Circuit ruled on Sept 9 that Feshbachs can’t discharge IRS debt in bankruptcy. Dec 17: Feshbachs sign court judgment obliging them to pay entire $3.674 million tax debt, plus interest from Nov 19.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Second amended complaint filed, trial set for Nov 9, 2021.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, Cannane victorious, awarded court costs. Case appealed on Dec 24.

Concluded litigation:
— Dennis Nobbe, Medicare fraud, PPP loan fraud: Charged July 29. Bond revoked Sep 14. Nobbe dead, Sep 14.
— Jane Doe v. Scientology (in Miami): Jane Doe dismissed the lawsuit on May 15 after the Clearwater Police dropped their criminal investigation of her allegations.

 
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THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON

We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links, including our four days in Los Angeles covering the preliminary hearing and its ruling, which has Danny facing trial and the potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison.

SCIENTOLOGY: FAIR GAME

After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.

LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH

An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and now on Netflix.

SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

 
Other links: SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks. Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society. Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in a weekly series. How many have you read?

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Scientology ‘Sunday service’ has always been a lazy PR ploy, and now it’s on full display
[TWO years ago] Scientology in Sweden: A telling snapshot of a failed Ideal Org under pressure
[THREE years ago] DENIED: Los Angeles judge rejects Scientology’s latest delay tactic in forced-abortion case
[FOUR years ago] Thanks for the slick videos, Marty Rathbun. Here’s a not very slick one for you.
[FIVE years ago] There’s nothing quite like when Scientology cancels your superhuman powers with a ‘declare’
[SIX years ago] When the FDA interviewed L. Ron Hubbard’s first family about Scientology
[SEVEN years ago] Casey Kasem’s sordid family drama: Is Kerri’s involvement in Scientology relevant?
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology Sunday Funnies, Revolt in the Stars Edition!
[TEN years ago] Scientologist Giovanni Ribisi to Play David Koresh: Why There’s a Precedent for a Scientology-Branch Davidian Connection

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on June 9, 2021 at 07:00

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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. Our book about Paulette, 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, 1995-2020 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2020), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | 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 | Shelly Miscavige, 15 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

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

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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 | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele