We hope you had a chance to see HBO’s excellent 2021 investigation into the origins of the QAnon phenomenon, Q Into the Storm, directed by Cullen Hoback. One of the surprising stars of the series was Fredrick Brennan, the young man who had founded 8chan, the imageboard that became the nursery for the QAnon movement, something Brennan came to regret.
In the series, he helped Hoback unearth the history of the Q phenomenon, which has led to credible threats to his life.
It turns out that Fred is a regular reader of the Underground Bunker and had reached out to us. We invited him on for a rollicking fun podcast episode to talk about the similarities between Scientology and QAnon, and other subjects. (Listen to the podcast here.)
Technology Cocktail
“We are in the business of Scientology. And Scientology rises considerably above the tinkerings of a few somewhat deranged scientists and the bickerings of a few misanthropic men wearing political crowns for the moment.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1957
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Jon Atack and Mike Rinder
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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?
[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
— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond
[18] Trial special with Chris Shelton [19] Trial week one [20] Marc Headley on the spy in the hallway [21] Trial week two [22] Trial week three [23] Trial week four [24] Leah Remini on LAPD Corruption [25] Mike Rinder 2022 Thanksgiving Special [26] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part One [27] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part Two [28] Claire Headley on the trial [29] Tory Christman [30] Bruce Hines on spying [31] Karen de la Carriere [32] Ron Miscavige on Shelly Miscavige [33] Karen de la Carriere on the L’s [34] Mark Bunker on Miscavige hiding [35] Mark Plummer [36] Mark Ebner [37] Karen Pressley [38] Steve Cannane
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“I might as well tell you why the foundation at 211 West Douglas just went out of the processing business entirely and is teaching as few students as possible and at this late date is going into research. I’m not quite sure what they’re going to research, but they’re just going into research and so I, this leaves as official entities in the field the HDAs in the field, the affiliates, that is to say the college associates, a professional school in Wichita, and whatever unit is here as far as the lineups are concerned, and of course this foundation. OK? This by the way is a big load off my mind because I’ve been wondering which way those people were going to jump, and sometimes suicides jump the wrong way. And all they seem to have gotten me for so far is to tell the income tax people that I’m vastly out of order on my income tax, so the income tax people are coming down. Do we have anybody around town who’s awfully good on income tax? Well, they wouldn’t let me look at any of the ’51 books, so I don’t know what income they’ve got written down. And they wiped out all my income just before income tax time, so I don’t know, I mean, I wrote the collector of internal revenue about a year ago and I said, ‘God, I’m confused.’ And he never replied, so I guess he is too….What do you know? Well we’ve got to make a couple of theta clears quick and wreck these income tax people right quick.” — L. Ron Hubbard, March 11, 1952
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“MATA HARI: LISA O’KRACKEL, ‘the Mata Hari of our times,’ came aboard as the wife of Bill O’Krackel, made trouble, blew, was seen ashore hanging around for a week in Corfu, got $1,600 from her mother and left the area. Turns out she was married before to a Greek in Greece, was not divorced before she ‘married’ Bill. In the meantime she worked as a ‘pros’ in Las Vegas. She has six aliases (different names) and possibly 3 passports, one in her maiden name, one as the Greek’s wife and one as Bill’s ‘wife.’ We guess that Bill found out about her former marriage and no divorce and possibly that’s why she blew. We don’t know that she was here for info but for sure some wild left wing characters in the press are trying to talk about a disappeared ‘girl’ and had the crust to ask the Deputy Prime Minister of Greece about the ‘disappeared girl’ and ‘that ship in Corfu.’ The DPM said our ship was OK and he’d ‘look into the girl matter.’ Well, we’re also looking into it. We mean her no harm. But her blow is causing Dev T. Looks like another ‘Linda Smith’ plant.” — The Commodore, March 11, 1969
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“A psychological operation perpetrated by unfriendly Gray ETs has been Disclosed. In it the Gray ETs choose people for abduction and mind control. After they have been programmed, the abductees and contactees are introduced into society in positions of influence. The ‘Chosen One’ individuals are mainly connected to military or government positions and families. This Psyop has apparently not been identified in Scientology auditing. One reason for that is because there are specific publications by LRH that forbid the inclusion of PCs with connections to governments, intelligence agencies and the military.”
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2000: The Wichita Eagle reported that Scientology celebrity Kirstie Alley has opened a school behind the Wichita, Kansas mission. “Wichita native Kirstie Alley for the opening of Lillie’s Learning Place, a free tutoring center, named after Alley’s daughter, that is open to people of all ages. The new center is at 3416 E. Oakland, behind the Church of Scientology Mission that Alley established five years ago in Wichita’s College Hill neighborhood. Originally, Lillie’s made its home in the mission’s building. For Alley, as well as the nearly 700 members of the Scientology mission in Wichita, the area holds great value: Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard lived in the neighborhood in the 1950s and wrote some of his essays that would be part of what he called Study Technology — ways to develop learning and comprehension. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was preceded by Education Expo 2000, a fair seeking volunteers for 51 Wichita nonprofit groups. The event was held at Wichita State University’s Hughes Metropolitan Complex. Joining Alley and Najimy at the ceremony was actress Jenna Elfman, who stars in the ‘Dharma and Greg’ television series. Visitors also got to tour the two-story center, which includes study rooms and a library that includes basic reading texts by Hubbard, as well as classical literature.”
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“You people’s humanity is rubbing off on me and it’s making me unstable.”
Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Mistrial declared November 30. Retrial scheduled, jury selection begins March 29. Next pretrial hearing: Feb 16.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Next pretrial hearing Feb 13.
— Rizza Islam, Medi-Cal fraud: Trial scheduled for March 1 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next status conference Feb 13.
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: March 15, 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.
— 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] Confused by Scientology’s latest moves? L. Ron Hubbard can explain everything
[TWO years ago] New Scientology magazine boasts that David Miscavige is now a Florida fixture
[THREE years ago] What it’s like to discover your employer is pushing Scientology on his office
[FOUR years ago] New government docs show Scientology trying to snow the Justice Dept after Snow White
[FIVE years ago] Scientology TV goes live tomorrow at 8 pm Eastern on app, DirecTV
[SIX years ago] Source: Scientology made Danny Masterson’s Victim B search past lives to explain being raped
[SEVEN years ago] Belgian judge throws entire case against Scientology out of court on technicality
[EIGHT years ago] The ‘Going Clear’ screening in Austin, featuring Marty Rathbun and other familiar faces
[NINE years ago] Judge in Laura DeCrescenzo’s case retires, Scientology objects to his replacement
[TEN years ago] LEAKED: Scripts Spell Out How Scientology Directs the Unsuspecting to Its Rehab Network
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology Sunday Funnies: Countdown to LRH’s Birthday!
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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 2,965 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,470 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,020 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,010 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,901 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,205 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,076 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 2,181 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 4,658 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,970 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,536 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,455 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 4,623 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,204 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,465 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,501 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,217 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,781 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,096 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,271 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,822 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,953 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,291 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,146 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,265 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 2,621 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,924 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,030 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,428 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,304 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,887 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,382 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 3,636 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,745 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on March 11, 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
