Grant Cardone at Flag: Again, Scientology turns to its professional ham hock to fill seats

 
In 2019, we found out that Grant Cardone, professional ham hock, had pulled in a big crowd at Scientology’s Hollywood Celebrity Centre.

This was a big deal, because these days, Scientology never has big crowds outside of its planned and stage-managed annual big events like LRH Birthday and New Year’s Eve. Oldtimers will remember a time when missions and orgs were jampacked with the curious learning their TRs and adjusting the tone arms on their E-meters. But David Miscavige’s “Ideal Org” program that began in 2003, with new cathedrals going up in dozens of cities around the world, just hasn’t brought in the kinds of curious new people that he claims it does.

So it was startling to see a jam-packed auditorium at CC for Cardone, who, love him or hate him, has a massive presence on social media and can draw a huge audience with his get-rich schtick.

And we’ve also noted that he’s become less and less shy about name-checking Scientology in his talks.

In that 2019 article we asked, “Is Grant Cardone the answer to what ails Scientology? Can he repeat this success on a larger scale, and is that something [church leader David] Miscavige can convince him to do more often?”

Some of the former Scientology executives we asked that question told us that if Miscavige didn’t use Cardone more often to bring in new people, it might be because Dave feels threatened by someone else proving to be so popular.

And over the last three years, we haven’t seen another sign of Cardone being used this way by Scientology.

Until this weekend.

As the video above shows, Cardone this time filled the auditorium at the Fort Harrison Hotel, centerpiece of Scientology’s “spiritual mecca” the Flag Land Base in Clearwater, Florida.

And we’d love to hear from anyone who can fill us in on details about the event. Was there regging involved? Was it a pep talk for the L Rundowns, Super Power, or Solo NOTs? (This was Flag, after all, where these upper-level experiences are on offer, not a place for Scientology beginners.)

It’s been a while since we heard from Cardone, but in that time he’s had a litigation setback.

Here’s Jeffrey Augustine, who has been keeping a close eye on Cardone’s fortunes in court…

On December 21 the Ninth Circuit ruled against Cardone, restoring a class action lawsuit in Los Angeles filed by an investor named Luis Pino.

Cardone had convinced a lower court that the wide social media promotion of his Cardone Capital funds did not target specific individuals, and so neither he or his company acted as “statutory” sellers.

Pino asked the Ninth Circuit to rule that Cardone was, in fact, engaging in solicitation of investors and was a statutory seller.

“Through their social media engagement, Cardone and Cardone Capital were significant participants in the selling transaction because they disseminated material information to would-be investors,” the court ruled.

With the lawsuit restored other investors can join it, and Cardone can’t say he didn’t solicit them with his “10X” online hype.

Thank you for that update, Jeffrey.

Now, will David Miscavige continue to use Cardone to fill seats at his orgs?

We’re curious.

 
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Technology Cocktail

“Since havingness wasn’t a super-super-gold (for I could see that it itself was an aberration) I continued to look for higher levels of entrance into the problem and so bypassed havingness and even forgot about it for a while—with resultant case chaos. When havingness is neglected, cases do not improve, that’s all there is to it.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1956

 
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Karen de la Carriere on LMP’s cash

 
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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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Source Code

“Take any given action. Let’s take kissing a girl, just take that as an action. I don’t know whether you’re familiar with this action or not, but — kissing a girl. All right. Now, let’s take a look at the various societies and their various regards of it. And you find out it’d be very interesting. The Marriage Counselors Society of Los Angeles. Of course, this is a very laudable action and therefore you are a very evil man if you don’t kiss a girl. If you’re not the type of man who kisses girls, then you’re an evil man. That’s according to the mores of the marriage counselors. Because of course the more girls that get kissed, the more business they have. Elementary. Elementary. All right. Now, let’s take the Sex Is Evil Society of New York City. The Sex Is Evil Society. All right. Every time you kiss a girl, you see, you are evil. So you’re an evil man because you kiss a girl. Now, you go down to Hollywood, for instance, and kiss a girl, they think you’re crazy. I didn’t mean it as a crack, and so forth. I didn’t mean it as a crack, a derogatory. In the first place, it couldn’t be derogatory because you can always explain cracks about Hollywood on the same basis, ‘It isn’t critical — it isn’t a critical thought because it’s true!’ You hear that?” — L. Ron Hubbard, January 16, 1962

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“The factor of income-outgo is that one must have more income than outgo for an org to live at all. This is the primary thing that EOs and staffs overlook. It is the only thing really that can wipe out an org. ASHO in November ran at less income than outgo (loss of $3,000) which is why there is an effort to combine ASHO and AOLA. In management this factor — the income-outgo ratio — is just something that can’t be ignored as it can destroy an org and is, by experience, the only thing which can. It is also the hardest thing to get across to ECs. One has to increase income to exceed outgo and also decrease outgo so it is less than income — both actions are usually necessary. I doubt there is a more important management datum than this. Or one which is more consistently ignored in orgs.” — The Commodore, January 16, 1970

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“‘KUCDEIOF: know, unknow, curious, desire, enforce, inhibit, none of it, false.’ KUCDEIOF may be and is currently being applied in reverse to install false and substituted stable data and a false and substituted operating basis. The 1st step is to persuade the person by foul means or fair to unknow what they actually know to be true, for example to persuade the person to suspend disbelief, a standard pyramid sales technique. Then it’s generate curiosity and desire followed swiftly by enforce and inhibit. Then the lollipop is taken away at absence of and none of it is applied to ensure a total rejection of the original truth. Finally the false and substituted stable datum and operating basis is installed. At this point whatever it is that the person originally knew to be true and was persuaded to unknow is considered false. In actuality an inversion, reversal, denial and substitution of truth is what takes place. And how on earth do we end up in such a mess in the first place? By unknowing what we actually know to be true.”

 
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Past is Prologue

2002: The Sun reported that Scientology celebrity John Travolta demands eight new t-shirts per day on the set of a new movie. “John Travolta has demanded eight new Armani T-shirts a day to appear in his latest movie because he refuses to wear the same one twice. The star, who objects to washing clothes for religious reasons, had it written into his contract that he is supplied with the 250 pound black tops. Pulp Fiction hunk Travolta, 47, is a member of the Church of Scientology, which frowns on chemicals used in dry cleaning. So producers of his new movie Basic, in which he is seen in a black T-shirt most of the time, agreed to fork out 2,000 pounds a day on fresh ones. A source said yesterday: ‘John wasn’t happy wearing just any old shirts – he wanted to look right. But the producers were amazed when he said he wanted eight a day.'”

Random Howdy

“Steve Allen and Johnny Carson hated Scientology.”

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

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Mistrial declared November 30. Status conference scheduled January 10, retrial scheduled March 27.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Plea deadline scheduled for December 16.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff scheduled to time served with three years supervised release, restitution of $9.7 million.
— Rizza Islam, Medi-Cal fraud: Trial scheduled for March 1 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial hearing December 9.
— 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 November 17 to argue the arbitration motions, awaiting ruling.
— 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 February 7.
— 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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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] When Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard decided to get tough with squirrels
[TWO years ago] More proof that governments are aware of how Scientology abuses its own members
[THREE years ago] Lawsuit filed in death of man shot by police at Scientology’s Inglewood ‘Ideal Org’
[FOUR years ago] Another elderly victim gets soaked by Scientology, is talking to law enforcement
[FIVE years ago] Leah Remini and Mike Rinder cite Scientology interrogations as they support Paul Haggis
[SIX years ago] What Scientology is telling its members: Things have never been better!
[SEVEN years ago] Atack: What I meant when I said Scientologists suffer from arrogance when they leave
[NINE years ago] Judge Waldrip grants Monique Rathbun’s discovery request, snubbing Scientology
[TEN years ago] TONIGHT: Nancy Many’s Story of Scientology Spying and Interrogation on ID at 10 PM
[ELEVEN years ago] Did You See a Scientology Ad This Weekend?

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on January 16, 2023 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