Does Shelly Miscavige know it’s Christmas 2023?

Five years ago we decided that on Christmas Day it would be a good time to review what we knew about the disappearance of Shelly Miscavige, wife to Scientology’s leader David Miscavige, who vanished from Scientology’s Gold Base in summer 2005. We wondered if Shelly, kept hidden in a remote mountain compound, even knew it was Christmas. For the sixth Christmas in a row, we’re posting that story, since it still represents what we know about Shelly’s whereabouts.

We understand that Shelly Miscavige may be resigned to her fate.

But there’s a reason that “Where’s Shelly” is the number one question we get from the public — and it’s the same for Leah Remini. (We checked.)

For non-Scientologists, it’s simply incredible to think that David Miscavige, the leader of a worldwide “religious” organization, could get away with banishing his wife to a small mountain compound, never to be heard from again. On a day like today we can only wonder, does Shelly Miscavige really feel no desire to be with her family, or even just to see a few faces besides the dozen other people she has seen day in and day out for 16 years?

The question “Where’s Shelly” reached a whole new audience in December 2018 thanks to Leah’s television show, which provided a lot of background for viewers about Shelly’s upbringing. But the episode was light on details about Shelly’s current whereabouts and what we’ve learned about it in recent years. It was obvious from the huge number of questions we got on social media that week that viewers were left with a lot of questions. So on this meaningful day, let’s revisit some facts.

It was late August or early September in 2005 when Shelly vanished. We know that you heard Valerie Haney, in her Aftermath episode, say it was 2006, and a lot of media tends to say that. But when we talked with Valerie directly for our follow-up interview and compared notes with her, she agreed with our other eyewitnesses that it was late summer 2005 when Shelly disappeared, not 2006.

As we pointed out in a video we put out recently, the last public footage we have of Shelly was from September 2004, when Shelly was with Dave and with Tom Cruise at the Ideal Org opening in Madrid. It was at that event when Tom admitted to Dave that after breaking up with Penelope Cruz he was looking for a new girlfriend. Shelly was then put in charge of the effort to audition actresses to find a new mate for Tom, resulting that November in recruiting Nazanin Boniadi for the role. After that relationship broke up in January 2005, Tom found Katie Holmes on his own and their relationship became public in April.

As 2005 progressed, Valerie Haney and Mike Rinder and others have told us, the relationship between Dave and Shelly became more and more strained as they lived at Int Base (also known as “Gold Base”), Scientology’s secretive 500-acre international management compound near Hemet, California, where, the year before, an increasingly unhinged Miscavige had created “The Hole,” a literal prison for some of his closest lieutenants. Concerned with how Dave’s erratic behavior and epic tantrums were affecting other people, Shelly took it upon herself to make a few changes when Dave spent some time in Los Angeles without her that summer. First, she rearranged some job positions (filled in an “org board”). It was Valerie who explained to us that Shelly did so in part to assign some people to positions where they would be less likely to be in contact with her husband. Shelly was trying to lessen their exposure to his volcanic temper, in other words. And she also had Dave’s belongings crated up so that a long-planned renovation to their quarters could finally get going.

When Dave returned and saw that she had taken the initiative, he blew his stack and returned to Los Angeles. A week later, Shelly vanished. A new detail that was finally confirmed for us by Valerie was that during that week between Dave’s freakout and Shelly’s disappearance, she grabbed a car at the base and drove to Los Angeles in a last-ditch effort to save her marriage. But she soon returned after that mission failed. She was then taken away. This is an important detail, we believe, because it counters the suggestion that Shelly, by taking the initiative while Dave was gone, purposely sabotaged herself so she could be sent away. Would Shelly have made the dramatic gesture of driving to LA to appeal to her husband if that was the case?

So, sixteen years ago at the age of 44, Shelly was escorted from Int Base (where “The Hole” was) about 60 miles to the much smaller compound in the mountains near Lake Arrowhead, the headquarters of the Church of Spiritual Technology, where super-secret CST operates its project to archive the words of L. Ron Hubbard to store in vaults for thousands of years. (We are constantly asked, could Shelly be in “the Hole”? No, the Hole is located at the base where Shelly was taken away from. And we have eyewitnesses to the poor wretches held in the Hole continuously from 2005 to 2016, and Shelly is not among them.)

Almost two years after Shelly was sent away, on June 25, 2007, her father, Maurice Elliott “Barney” Barnett, died at the age of 77. When his funeral was held that summer, Shelly was allowed to attend, but in the presence of a Scientology handler, Anne Joasem, the ex-wife of the defector Marty Rathbun. According to Marc Headley, when someone who knew Shelly approached her with a request, she told them, “Listen to me. I fucked up, and I’m not going to be able to help you.”

(Another indication that Shelly is aware of her fate and its punitive nature: In 2013, just before Leah filed her missing-person report, we revealed that Shelly had told a family member “there’s only one way” she would ever again leave the CST base, referring to the prospect of a family funeral.)

In the 16 years since that sighting — 18 total since she first was escorted from Int Base — various lines of evidence tell us Shelly has been confined to the CST headquarters compound in the San Bernardino Mountains. The place goes by several names, depending on who you’re talking to: Twin Peaks, Rim of the World, Rimforest, or also Crestline, for the nearest hamlet.

In July 2013 news of Leah Remini’s defection broke. On Monday August 5 she filed a missing-person report with the Los Angeles Police Department. Why the LAPD? For years Leah exchanged cards and gifts with Shelly, whose official address was 6331 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, and which is to this day David Miscavige’s official address. That location is the Hollywood Guaranty Building, an office structure that on its ground floor contains the “L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition.” The 11th floor is where Miscavige and his most trusted aides run Scientology when he’s in L.A. We’re told that there’s a place there where he can crash for the night, but it’s not the location of his apartment, which was actually a few blocks away.

Anyway, 6331 Hollywood Blvd in Los Angeles was the address Leah had from the years she was corresponding with Shelly, and that’s why she submitted her report to the LAPD on Monday August 5, 2013.

Two nights later, on Wednesday, we got word that the report had been filed. The next morning, Thursday August 8, we broke the news that Leah had filed the report. Later that day, reporters who were calling the LAPD for comment were told that Shelly had been contacted and that the idea she was missing was “unfounded.”

Leah was hammered by the press, which for some reason thought her report had been dealt with in less than a day, because our story had come out that morning and by the afternoon the LAPD was saying there was nothing to it. But that’s not what happened.

After Leah filed her report on Monday August 5, and before the LAPD said it was unfounded on the afternoon of Thursday August 8, the LAPD claims that it visited Shelly and talked with her.

When we called to ask about it, we were forwarded to Lt. Andre Dawson, who told us two of his detectives had met with Shelly. He wouldn’t tell us where that meeting had occurred, and when we asked him if the conversation had happened in the presence of other church officials, he quickly said “That’s classified.”

Meanwhile, Leah herself never got any response at all from the LAPD, even though she had filed the missing-person report to begin with.

Did Lt. Dawson’s detectives go up to the CST headquarters, which is in another jurisdiction, San Bernardino County, to check on Shelly? Was Shelly instead brought down to Los Angeles to meet the detectives? Or was the LAPD merely lying to us?

In 2016, Leah still wanted answers about that. Through an attorney, she filed an official records request with the LAPD for documentation on what they had actually done when she filed her missing-person request. But the LAPD told her it was going to give her no documentation at all.

Around that same time, in 2016, we heard from a branch of Shelly’s family that is not involved in Scientology. They asked us for some advice about what to do, saying that they at least wanted to make sure that Shelly was all right. We pointed out to them that the CST compound is in San Bernardino County. So they approached the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, asking that a welfare check be done on her.

They were told that the Sheriff’s Department would require evidence that Shelly was at that location, and the department did nothing.

Surprised by that response, we sent our own letter to the Sheriff’s Department, explaining the evidence that Shelly was located at the compound, as well as a recent possible sighting of her in the town of Crestline itself. We received this response…

Hello Tony,

Concerning the welfare of someone within the jurisdiction of the Sheriff’s department, any call for service we receive will be appropriately addressed and handled accordingly.

We encourage anyone with information regarding a crime, or potential crime, to contact Sheriff’s Dispatch or their local Sheriffs station to report it so the matter can be investigated and resolved.

Thank you,

Adam Cervantes, Deputy Sheriff

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Dept.
Public Affairs Division

So, the LAPD claims it checked on Shelly in 2013 but won’t provide any details about it, and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department says it doesn’t have enough evidence that she’s at the CST compound to go check on her.

Is Shelly even alive? We see this suggestion a lot on social media, that Shelly is already dead or has been killed, and there’s a good reason why we tell people it’s probably not true.

Scientology may be very effective at keeping Shelly out of sight, but covering up a death is another matter entirely. Consider the case of Anne Tidman, for example. Also known as Annie Broeker, Tidman was one of the last people to see L. Ron Hubbard alive, and she was also kept out of sight at a Scientology compound for years. When she developed cancer and then became very ill, she was moved to an apartment in Hollywood, where she died in 2011. Scientology was able to keep news of her death quiet for several months, but eventually her family was told about it, and that’s how we became aware of it. If Shelly died, we think the news would get out even more quickly.

Also, Scientology’s attorneys, in reaction to Leah Remini’s episode, made claims to the media that they had either personally seen Shelly or communicated with her. Scientology attorneys may be unpleasant human beings, but they aren’t going to risk their law licenses and claim that a dead woman is alive and well.

Shelly is alive.

She is at the CST compound near Crestline, California, the same place she’s been for 17 years. (We have amazing drone footage of the place, and a former employee there even pinpointed where he thinks Shelly is living and working there.)

She is now 62 years old, and if claims of a recent sighting in the town of Crestline is correct, she may be in ill health.

And yes, we will say again, she may be resigned to her fate.

But on this day, of all days, why can’t her family spend time with Shelly Miscavige? Why can’t she speak for herself? Why can’t we ask her to explain, in her own words, why she is shut up in a tiny mountain compound and can never leave?

 
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Continuing our year in review: The stories of May 2023

May was all about the Danny Masterson retrial, of course. And as the month began, Jane Doe 1 was on the witness stand. She had issues with Scientology attorney Vicki Podberesky being in the courtroom, and a flip of her hair that she said was an intimidation attempt. Her cross-examination by defense attorney Philip Cohen began later that day.

Meanwhile, the plaintiffs in the Tampa labor trafficking lawsuit asked for permission to make an interlocutory appeal to try and overturn the court’s decision to force the case into “religious arbitration.”

After a second full day of cross-examination of Jane Doe 1, attorney Philip Cohen is warned by Judge Olmedo that she’s not going to let him go on forever, and then she does cut him off. Cohen will later move for a mistrial over this, and is denied. Expect it to come up on appeal.

On May 3, Claire Headley got to testify about how everything the victims were saying about Scientology was true. Shawn Holley’s cross of Claire got into humorous territory when she implied that Claire hadn’t reached high enough in the OTs to be considered an expert.

Jane Doe 2 began her testimony the next day. Her account is so harrowing, and once again she provided a vivid account.

Tory Christman attended the trial, which we asked her about in our podcast.

Another big story outside the trial: A former Scientology PI, Alanna Warren, came forward to describe stalking Mike Rinder and Christie Collbran, as well as Mat Pesch and Amy Scobee. And she had photos and records. Wow.

“Apostate Alex” Barnes-Ross made his first appearance at the Underground Bunker.

On May 10, the mini-bombshell rocks the Masterson trial: For the first time, we hear in court about the DA’s office anger that much of their evidence in the case had somehow ended up in the hand of Scientology’s attorneys. Which of Masterson’s attorneys was responsible for the leak?

The next day, a huge moment in the trial: For months now, the defense has been using Det. Esther Reyes as its star witness, claiming that she had warned the victims about contaminating the case. But when prosecutors put her on the stand, Reyes testifies that in her opinion, the case wasn’t actually contaminated. Cohen is livid.

But he then got to subpoena us, so that might have been fun for him. (We ended up no testifying.)

On May 16, Ariel Anson knocks us out with her closing statement, which starts with the words, “It all starts with a drink.” She’s amazing. The jury had the case the next day.

Jury deliberations go on for eight days, including a break for Memorial Day weekend, but then on May 31, we hear there are verdicts. Verdicts! And we’re in the courtroom to hear that Masterson has been convicted on two counts of forcible rape. The third count is a hung jury, but two guilty counts is enough to send Masterson to prison under the “One Strike” statute that he’s being prosecuted under. Amazing. We feel relief for these victims, who have been through so much over so many years.

A LOOK BACK AT MAY 2022: Video evidence that Balance of Nature is tight with Scientology. Geoff Levin wanted us to know about some things he told New Yorker about Elisabeth Moss. Luke Y. Thompson gives us the only review of Tom Cruise’s new movie Top Gun: Maverick that you really need. Chris Shelton interviewed Kate Olson, who had just recently left the Sea Org. Danny Masterson fires famous defense attorney Tom Mesereau as his attempts to dismiss one of the rape charges and sever the others were denied.

A LOOK BACK AT MAY 2021: Jane Doe 1’s letter ripping the LAPD for its early mishandling of the Danny Masterson investigation. Hollis Jane Andrews reveals the insane nanny instructions from a Scientologist couple. Ian Rafalko bursts on the scene with a viral TikTok about his dad, Scientology donor Dr. Eric Berg. The Danny Masterson preliminary hearing unfolds in Los Angeles: Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four. The California Supreme Court grants review of Scientology’s ‘religious arbitration’ gambit. At the Daily Beast we reveal what really happened between L. Ron Hubbard and Leni Riefenstahl.

A LOOK BACK AT MAY 2020: Reasons why NASA should send Tom Cruise into space. Dianetics turns 70. Leaked audio from Freewinds commanding officer Sharron Weber. Jane Doe in Miami dropped her lawsuit against Scientology. Phil Jones records a Scientology recruiter about wrecking families. Scientologist antivaxx star Leigh Dundas debuts at the Bunker.

A LOOK BACK AT MAY 2019: The Freewinds became world famous for a case of measles. Joey Chait told us his Freewinds horror story. Family awarded $11 million in Narconon lawsuit. Chris Owen has startling new info about L. Ron Hubbard’s biggest WW2 blunder. John Travolta’s daughter Ella Bleu makes her Scientology debut.

A LOOK BACK AT MAY 2018: Geoff Levin came forward to tell his story about finally reuniting with his brother Robbie and getting their band People! back together. Joy Villa took down her ‘testing the waters’ for Congress page. Some new L. Ron Hubbard letters up for auction included him talking about how Dianetics helped him “unfrigidize” women. Erika Christensen got a new trophy. And Luke Ayers gave us some Aussie-flavored Scientology hip-hop.

A LOOK BACK AT MAY 2017: We talked to the families involved in the Tennessee house of horrors operated by Scientologists and shut down by local authorities. We got our first drone footage of the compound where Shelly Miscavige is being held. A random photo revealed the location of a Scientology dad, disconnected for seven years. Leah Remini tided us over between seasons with a 2-hour special.

A LOOK BACK AT MAY 2016: One of Ron Miscavige’s fellow musicians sticks up for him. L. Ron Hubbard admitted he was mostly kidding. Kate Bornstein and Caitlyn Jenner raided the Los Angeles org. And Tommy Davis got a new job working for James Packer.

A LOOK BACK AT MAY 2015: Our book about Paulette Cooper, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely goes on sale and it’s featured on the front page of the Daily Beast. Paulette joins us for a talk on our book just two blocks from Scientology’s Los Angeles headquarters. At Spanky Taylor’s house we witnessed the meeting of Paulette and Leah Remini. Jamie DeWolf threw a twisted party for Paulette and your proprietor in San Francisco. And for once, Greta Van Susteren gets called out for her Scientology affiliation.

A LOOK BACK AT MAY 2014: Florida horse doctor Lee Shewmaker told us about what drove him away from Scientology. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden asked the IRS to review its policies on Scientology. We obtained the Clearwater Police report on the strange death of Russian Scientologist Evgeny Zharkin. And the National Association of Forensic Counselors files a massive lawsuit.

A LOOK BACK AT MAY 2013: Lori Hodgson makes a surprise visit to see her son in Austin, Ron Miscavige Sr. resurfaces by selling gym equipment, Wise Beard Man reports from Portland, and we review Marty Rathbun’s book Memoirs of a Scientology Warrior.

 
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Technology Cocktail

“Common man likes to be happy and well. He likes to be able to understand things, and he knows his route to freedom lies through knowledge. Therefore, for 15 years I have had Mankind knocking on my door. It has not mattered where I have lived or how remote, since I first published a book on the subject, my life has no longer been my own. I like to help others and count it as my greatest pleasure in life to see a person free himself of the shadows which darken his days.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1965

 
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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 [39] Fredrick Brennan [40] Clarissa Adams [41] Louise Shekter [42] John Sweeney [43] Tory Christman [44] Kate Bornstein [45] Christian Stolte [46] Mark Bunker [47] Jon Atack [48] Luke Y. Thompson [49] Mark Ebner [50] Bruce Hines [51] Spanky Taylor and Karen Pressley [51] Geoff and Robbie Levin [52] Sands Hall [53] Jonny Jacobsen [54] Sandy Holeman

 
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Source Code

“1980 draws to a close and we enter 1981. I just wanted to say ‘hello.’ They say a man is known by the high quality of his friends. So I must be very well known. I think I am very fortunate to have such a friend as you. One owes a friend some accounting of himself. You may be wondering what I’ve been up to lately. Would you like to know? I am as well as can be expected for anyone several trillion years old. I’m not doing any motorcycling nor much driving. I miss the good old days of sailing around in the Apollo. Sitting on a mountain top looking at the distant sea is no substitute for being on it.” — L. Ron Hubbard, December 25, 1980

Avast, Ye Mateys

“Thank you for all your presents. This Christmas I was completely out-created — I received very many more presents than I gave — and all very lovely ones. Our poor AOs, SHs, ships and bases did not receive many greetings from Flag this year. We were so concerned about them that we didn’t use the last Couriers to send them our last minute Christmas greetings. We did send cards earlier. We’ll have to make it up to them. AOUK and AOLA sent lovely big cards. AOSH DK sent presents. Their best present was greatly raised AOLA and ASHO stats. We heaved an awful sigh of relief over that. Three cheers for our upstat cooks, stewards and engineers and QMs who made the Christmas for the rest. That was a terrific dinner. What a nice day!” — The Commodore, December 25, 1969

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“Dear Mr. President, We Free Scientologists would like to contribute to the task of making America great again. The American writer L. Ron Hubbard developed an advanced technology to free the human mind from past experiences (trauma) so that the people can think freely and manage their lives successfully….Since then Scientology has experienced a hidden influence by intelligence agents, which finally took over Scientology in the 1970’s and put it under the control of the Deep State….As the intelligence community wanted a monopoly on these capabilities, they…put Scientology onto ‘Nixon’s enemy list’ and used the FBI-COINTELPRO to get rid of Hubbard — an Interpol-warrant was issued and he was imprisoned on 4 December 1972 without a chance of legal recourse….The original Scientology — as developed by L. Ron Hubbard — contains the methods and techniques to free the human spirit and mind from past experiences and constraints…We need all the resources available in each person to survive the global crisis which is ahead of us. We need many more people as clear and powerful as you, Mr. President, obviously are. Please help to rehabilitate the true potential of Scientology by ordering these agencies to stop infiltrating and get them out of our church….Thank you for being there and taking the responsibility of the post of US President. I love you too.”

 
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Past is Prologue

1995: Dick Cleek posted a letter to his local Chamber of Commerce from Fred Harris, L. Ron Hubbard Personal Public Relations Office International. “Recent events have made it only too clear that our communities still beg for an answer to the devastating effects of crime, substance abuse, domestic violence and illiteracy. As you may or may not know, L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, developed workable solutions that have broad application to the problems of society at large. His discoveries in the fields of literacy, drug rehabilitation and ethics are successfully used to handle the underlying causes of violence and criminality from South Central Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., from Russia to South Africa. Currently his technology is in use in 107 nations. To provide you with information on these programs being used daily by millions around the world, I am sending you a copy of the publication L. Ron Hubbard: A Profile. It gives a defining statement about Mr. Hubbard’s discoveries and their successful applications. You may want to take this publication home to read in more detail. It may give you renewed conviction that something can be done about the problems which face us all. If I can assist you in any way to implement the materials and programs developed by Mr. Hubbard, do not hesitate to contact me directly.”

 
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Random Howdy

“Christmas in the U.S was invented by Ulysses S. Grant, Macy’s, and Sears & Roebuck after the Civil War to help jump-start the economy and pay for the war. The Pilgrims banned Christmas. Christmas in Europe was a drunken eat-till-you-puke orgy.”

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

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Found guilty on two counts on May 31, remanded to custody. Sentenced to 30 years to life on Sep 7.
— ‘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 January 29, 2024.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud.

Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Complaint filed August 2, motion to strike/anti-SLAPP motions by Scientology to be heard January 9, 2024.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to arbitration. Plaintiffs allowed interlocutory appeal to Eleventh Circuit.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Discovery phase.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Ordered to mediation.

 
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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] Does Shelly Miscavige know it’s Christmas 2022?
[TWO years ago] Does Shelly Miscavige know it’s Christmas 2021?
[THREE years ago] Does Shelly Miscavige know it’s Christmas 2020?
[FOUR years ago] Does Shelly Miscavige know it’s Christmas 2019?
[FIVE years ago] Does Shelly Miscavige know it’s Christmas?
[SIX years ago] Thetans roasting on an open fire: It’s Christmas in the Bunker, and we’re full of cheer
[SEVEN years ago] From those who left, a special Christmas message for Scientology’s remaining members
[EIGHT years ago] Merry Christmas 2015: Here’s your Scientology present under the tree
[NINE years ago] Scientology’s 2014 in review: May your days be merry and bright!
[TEN years ago] Merry Christmas, and here’s your present! From the Underground Bunker, with feeling
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology’s 2012 in Review: Eight Days that Shook the World

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on December 25, 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, 1995-2022 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2022), 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

 

Tony Ortega at Rolling Stone