We want to thank the reader who brought something rather amazing to our attention that we had overlooked.
Immediately after a mistrial was declared Wednesday in the Danny Masterson trial in Los Angeles, a Scientology website posted a statement that has to be seen to be believed.
It uses the opportunity of the mistrial to unload on Leah Remini, and there’s no mistaking who authored this unsigned screed. Of course it’s Scientology leader David Miscavige. They didn’t even bother to attach church spokeswoman Karin Pouw’s name to this thing, which is usually what Miscavige does to disguise his authorship.
This is pure, unadulterated Miscavige, unloading his vitriol on the person he blames for the weeks and weeks of drubbing in the press Scientology has received during the criminal trial of Danny Masterson in Los Angeles and the civil trial of Paul Haggis in New York.
Let’s take it a look at it in some bite-sized chunks.
Note that the document does not spell out what “this case” is referring to. Danny Masterson’s name is not included, and there’s no explanation that Scientology was a heavy part of his criminal prosecution not only because Masterson is a well-known Scientology celebrity, but also because the three women he’s accused of raping were all Scientologists at the time of their allegations between 2001 and 2003. Judge Charlaine Olmedo allowed a limited amount of testimony about Scientology’s policies that the women say prevented them from coming forward to law enforcement sooner and that caused them to be terrified of Scientology retaliation for speaking up.
And while Scientology was brought up again and again during the six-week trial at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, one name that almost never did come up was Leah Remini’s. The former Scientologist and television actress was simply not a factor during the trial. But Miscavige is reminding us here that Danny Masterson’s previous defense attorney, Tom Mesereau, was pushing this theory almost every chance he had: That the case against Masterson was actually cooked up by Remini, and that the women were coordinating their testimony at her behest.
Mesereau represented Masterson during the preliminary hearing that was held in May 2021, and we said at the time there was plenty of evidence that he was following direct instructions from Miscavige, which led to some pretty disastrous moments in court. And here again, Miscavige makes it pretty plain that he was behind that strategy to blame Remini for the case against Danny.
It was at the preliminary hearing last year that the three women accusing Masterson first testified that while they were in Scientology they were instructed, as all Scientologists are, that they must keep all disputes with other Scientologists inside the church itself. It’s even spelled out in Scientology’s “ethics” handbook, that a Scientologist cannot turn in a fellow church member to “civil authorities.” And as Mike Rinder explained in our special Thanksgiving podcast, how that language in the ethics book translates is that Scientologists believe that turning a member in to the police or the courts will deny them the benefit they could receive by going through Scientology’s own “technology” and through its justice procedures.
We have never met a former Scientologist who didn’t confirm that this is what they were taught in the church, that they should not give up a Scientologist to the police, no matter how heinous the crime they were accused of. But day after day, Miscavige had Scientology spokeswoman Karin Pouw deny to the press what was in Scientology’s own ethics book.
You can see, from the use of bold and italics, how Miscavige is nearly blowing his top over the way the court testimony about this has bugged him. And we’ll remind you, at one point he was so upset about Judge Olmedo’s ruling that the quotes from the ethics book be read at face value, he even dispatched a church attorney down to the courthouse to try and intervene in the criminal case.
Miscavige now turns to the civil lawsuit that was filed by Masterson’s accusers in 2019 against the That ’70s Show actor and against the Church of Scientology itself (and against Miscavige, although he’s still not been served the lawsuit formally). The lawsuit is not about the rape allegations, but instead about the harassment that the Jane Does say they have experienced since they came forward to the LAPD in 2016.
It’s really rich that Miscavige is ranting that there is no evidence of this harassment, while his attorneys have done everything they can to prevent the lawsuit from going into a discovery phase so that evidence could be gathered and entered into the court record. The church was initially successful at having the lawsuit derailed by arguing that the plaintiffs, most of whom were former Scientologists, had signed contracts while they were in the church obliging them not to sue but to take their grievances to Scientology’s internal brand of “religious arbitration.” But an appeals court in January reversed that ruling and the US Supreme Court refused to hear Scientology’s epic whine about it.
The civil case is still on hold, at least until December 13, and Scientology has already indicated that its next move will be to file an anti-SLAPP motion, which would likely halt the case for another year.
We have personal knowledge of evidence that supports the allegations by these women, that they have been the subject of Scientology’s familiar harassment and retaliation operations, and we think it’s going to be pretty epic when that evidence is finally entered in court. And the case was also bolstered when we learned during Masterson’s criminal trial that former Scientology celebrity Lisa Marie Presley is prepared to testify that she was instructed by the church to try and dissuade Jane Doe 1 from reporting her allegations to the LAPD — in other words, exactly the kind of interference and obstruction that the women are alleging.
Miscavige can cry and whine that no evidence of Scientology harassment and retaliation has been presented in court, but he’s spending boatloads of money on attorneys trying to prevent the lawsuit from getting to that point. Neat trick.
Leah Remini stood up in court and testified for her friend Paul Haggis, who was not “convicted” of anything, but was found liable in a civil lawsuit. Miscavige, meanwhile, is terrified of stepping foot in a courtroom, and has evaded service in numerous lawsuits. At a recent court hearing in Tampa, a federal judge remarked that Miscavige’s efforts to avoid service in a labor trafficking lawsuit was so extreme, it was something he’d never seen in his years on the bench.
It’s quite clear that Miscavige is thrilled with the results in both New York and Los Angeles: A large award against Haggis and a hung jury in the Masterson trial. But it’s really something that he used those results to put out such an unhinged stemwinder, with such generous use of italics and bold type.
We can only hope, as the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office considers whether to retry Masterson in the spring, that it gives this document a good look.
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Marc Headley is rapping on YouTube
The inimitable Marc Headley is dipping his toe in the water at YouTube, and he let us know that he’s posted his epic “Blown for Good” rap song…
…but we still prefer the version that featured Nazanin Boniadi.
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Technology Cocktail
“The only reason a person is hanging on to a body or facsimile is that he has lost his belief in his ability to create. The rehabilitation of this ability to create is resolved, for instance, in a person who has had an ambition to write, with ‘I can write’ ‘I cannot write’ — and so forth. The loss of this creative ability made the person hang on to what he had. The fact that a preclear has forgotten how to or no longer can himself generate force makes him hold on to stores of force.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1953
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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 as Danny faces a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison. NOW WITH TRIAL INDEX.
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THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?
— The Underground Bunker Podcast
[1] Marc Headley [2] Claire Headley [3] Jeffrey Augustine [4] Bruce Hines [5] Sunny Pereira [6] Pete Griffiths [7] Geoff Levin [8] Patty Moher [9] Marc Headley [10] Jefferson Hawkins [11] Michelle ‘Emma’ Ryan [12] Paulette Cooper [13] Jesse Prince [14] Mark Bunker [15] Jon Atack [16] Mirriam Francis [17] Bruce Hines on MSH
— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see
[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf
— SPECIAL: Your Proprietor’s updates on the Danny Masterson trial
[1] Sep 21 [2] Sep 28 [3] Oct 4 [4] Oct 10 [5] Oct 11: Day One [6] Oct 12: Day Two [7] Oct 13: Day Three [8] Oct 17: Day Four [9] Oct 18: Day Five [10] Oct 19: Day Six [11] Special interview with Chris Shelton, Oct 19 [12] Oct 20: Day Seven [13] Oct 21: Day Eight [14] First week in review, with Jeffrey Augustine [15] Oct 24: Day Nine [16] Oct 25: Day Ten [17] Oct 27: Day Eleven [18] Oct 28: Day Twelve [19] Second week in review, with Jeffrey Augustine [20] Halloween special [21] Nov 2: Day Thirteen [22] Nov 3: Day Fourteen [23] Nov 4: Day Fifteen [24] Third week in review [25] Nov 5, Saturday special [26] Nov 6, Sunday special [27] Nov 7, Day Sixteen [28] Lisa Marie Presley breaking news [29] Nov 8, Day Seventeen [30] Nov 9, Day Eighteen [31] Nov 10, Day Nineteen
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“It’s very simple to take a thetan and knock him into a state of somnolence and make him believe he is someplace else and then actually operate with him at that new place. You could, for instance, take a, go down the street here and find a lady of easy virtue and put her into a super trance and then tell her very convincingly while she’s in this super trance that you’re going to take care of her body, but you simply want her to go down and uh, be Mrs. Eisenhower. The darndest things would happen to Mrs. Eisenhower. This is one of the oldest political gimmicks in this universe. This is so old and so worn out as a political gimmick that nearly everybody has done it and he is now guilty of an overt act every time he thinks of it.” — L. Ron Hubbard, December 4, 1952
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“We have obtained permission from local authorities to burn paper on the dock. An incinerator is being constructed and will be used to burn confidential papers. So — paper hoarders, get your trash ready and work out how and when you will burn the trash at the end of the dock.” — Lt. N.F. Starkey, Captain, December 4, 1971
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“While most of history’s philosophers were blinded by deductive logic, Ron stuck out his neck and proved that intuition can be right, and millions of success stories back him up. If Dianetics and Scientology didn’t work they would never have got off the ground to start with. Religions and atheism offer only aphorisms, mundane morality, and megatons of pomposity. ‘Do unto others…’ is about the best the world has come up with – but no actual tech….The suicide rate in the UK is at an all-time high. Marriages don’t last, and social ills just get worse and worse: the dire economy, terrorism, drug, alcohol abuse and crime won’t go away, on and on and on. But wait, there is a solution! ‘a tiny group of data’ has come to the rescue!”
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2000: Critics of Scientology held protests in Clearwater this week to mark the anniversary of the death of Lisa McPherson. From the St. Petersburg Times: “The protest will be tempered by a court order issued Thursday that outlines specific locations where the critics can and cannot picket. Jeff Jacobsen, one of the protest organizers, said he was expecting about 40 people to participate. Some flew in from Germany and Canada, he said, while others are local residents. He said he expects the protesters to obey the injunction, even though they disagree with it. ‘It’s a huge violation of our First Amendment and free speech rights,’ Jacobsen said. ‘Every year they do something to try and stop us. This year, they relied heavily on the injunction.’ Church of Scientology spokesman Ben Shaw dismissed the protest as unimportant and the critics as ‘hate mongers.’ He said the church had no plans to react to the critics. The church was grateful that Circuit Judge Thomas Penick granted an injunction that specifically names a handful of known church critics and the Lisa McPherson Trust, an anti-Scientology watchdog group that set up offices downtown in January. The injunction includes 10 maps of church facilities with color codes designating where critics may stage their protest. Pickets can be across the street from the Fort Harrison Hotel, but not on the sidewalk directly in front of it. They can picket on the east side of the Clearwater Bank Building, but not on the west side. It also specifies that the critics and church members must stay 10 feet away from each other and cannot harass one another.”
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“David Miscavige is the Sarah Winchester of cult leaders. He just keeps building and building, trying to keep the ghosts of his and Hubbard’s victims at bay.”
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Trial began October 11 in Los Angeles.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Arraigned on August 29.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff scheduled to be sentenced on Oct 28.
— Rizza Islam, Medi-Cal fraud: Trial scheduled for March 1 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial conference set for September 19.
— Yanti Mike Greene, Scientology private eye accused of contempt of court: Found guilty of criminal and civil contempt.
Civil litigation:
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Complaint filed April 28 in Tampa federal court, Scientology moving to compel arbitration. Plaintiffs filed amended complaint on August 2. Hearing scheduled November 17 to argue the arbitration motions.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Selection of arbitrators underway. Next court hearing: February 2, 2023.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Appellate court removes requirement of arbitration on January 19, case remanded back to Superior Court. Stay in place at least through December 13.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Case settled ahead of scheduled Dec 6 trial.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: New trial ordered after appeals court overturned prior ruling.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Lawsuit filed by the FTC and state of Georgia in August, now in discovery phase.
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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 wants your feedback, thetan: ‘Who would you like to hear from?’
[TWO years ago] WHOA! Scientology to Judge Kleifield: Wrecking human lives IS our ‘commerce’
[THREE years ago] Danny Masterson is served rape lawsuit in papers delivered to his wife Bijou Phillips
[FOUR years ago] Scientology is known for its use of spies — and tonight, you’ll hear from one
[FIVE years ago] Yes, L. Ron Hubbard wrote even more about children and sex, and we need to talk about it
[SIX years ago] A new technology shows promise for treating depression, so Scientology wants to kill it
[SEVEN years ago] How Scientology ‘caretakers’ could stand by and watch Lisa McPherson deteriorate
[EIGHT years ago] ‘Chicago Fire’ actor Christian Stolte sets off an alarm about Scientology and the actors’ union
[NINE years ago] Scientology’s Shiny New Mark Ultra VIII E-Meter
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology Cruise Ship as Hellhole: The Ramana Dienes-Browning Story
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Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,868 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,373 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,923 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,913 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,804 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,109 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,979 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 2,084 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 4,557 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,873 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,439 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,358 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 4,526 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,106 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,368 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,404 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,119 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,684 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 999 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,174 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,725 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,856 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,194 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,049 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,168 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 2,524 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,827 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,933 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,331 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,207 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,790 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,285 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 3,539 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,648 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on December 4, 2022 at 07:00
E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post 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 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, 1995-2021 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2021), 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…
Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.
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
Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast
