TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: A Tampa federal judge admitted that he was shocked that existing case law required him to force Valeska Paris’s labor trafficking lawsuit into Scientology ‘arbitration.’ But Valeska’s attorneys say that law has now changed, thanks to the Supreme Court, and they want a do-over. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“Exteriorization is defined as the act of moving out of the body with or without full perception. It is the fact of this act which proves that the individual is not a body but an individual. This discovery in 1952 proved beyond any question the existence of a thetan, that the individual was a thetan, not a body, and disproved that man was an animal, and that he was a spiritual being timeless and deathless.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1971
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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 [55] Mark Bunker [56] Trish and Liz Conley [57] Trish Conley [58] Alex Barnes-Ross [59] Alex Barnes-Ross [60] Alex Barnes-Ross [61] Alex Barnes-Ross [62] Alex Barnes-Ross [63] Alex Barnes-Ross [64] Tory Christman [65] Tammy Synovec [66] Dennis Erlich [67] Alex Barnes-Ross [68] Valerie Ross [69] Kat in Austin [70] Mark Bunker [71] Phil Jones
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“The president of a law school had been employed to obtain this warrant and the Chief Federal United States Marshal, I think they have a sort of a feeling like they’re still western marshals or something. They go around with big guns hanging on them and so forth. The only trouble is they normally pick people off Skid Row to have these jobs, and it’s rather incongruous, you see. And this fellow, he was utterly mad-dogging because he was sure that I had just beaten up two of his marshals. Actually, I hadn’t beaten up a marshal. I had taken the gun away from one and told him how to use it and put it back in his holster, because I thought he would get into trouble. I explained it to him. I said, ‘You’ll get in trouble waving that about and so forth; and this is the hammer, and this is the trigger.’ And he handed it over to me, and I said, ‘These are the butt plates, and there’s the ammunition,’ and so forth, and slid the cartridges out of the chamber and told him to put them in his pocket, and put the gun back. Nobody was picking on him, and it was all all right, and he did it. You think I’m kidding you, but he did it. ” — L. Ron Hubbard, June 26, 1961
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“There’s lots of good work being done — it’s in the majority. For instance the great majority of sessions today were excellent. And on changing anchorage all hands, bow and stern anchors, there wasn’t a single flub. And I had a fresh lobster dinner beautifully done. And several people handled the naval visit beautifully indeed. So I can quote an old poem: A HEALTH UNTO THE HAPPY/A FIG FOR HE WHO FRETS.” — The Commodore, June 26, 1969
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“Only a few have made it to class VIII, yet many allege they made it! By themselves! In the Freezone! Imagine that! If it is hard work with course supervisors, a CS, word Clearers, false data stripping and a whole org behind you! I cannot imagine it in the FZ! No, those are just cons!”
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1997: Reuters reported that tennis star Boris Becker has threatened legal action against Scientology for using his picture and comments on the Internet to criticize Germany’s tolerance of minorities. “The organisation, which Germany views as anti-democratic and has put under intelligence surveillance, has a picture of Becker and his black wife Barbara at the top of an article headed ‘The Trouble with Intolerance.’ A Scientology spokesman said it had not reported anything more than Becker himself said in an interview last year when he said he planned to move to the United States when his son reached school age. The article, with the sub-heading ‘For many minorities, living in Germany means living in fear,’ cited Becker as an example of someone who had suffered ‘years of intolerance and abuse, apparently owing to the fact that his wife is black.’ Becker’s Munich-based lawyers demanded Scientology withdraw all reference to the former Wimbledon champion and pledge not to use his picture again. ‘Boris Becker is in no way prepared to promote the aims of your organisation in any manner,’ the lawyers said in a letter addressed to the Church of Scientology International in London. Scientology spokesman Georg Stoffel said it had used the reference to Becker because it wanted to draw attention to examples of alleged discrimination in Germany — both against its own members and other people. ‘We campaign for the rights of all minorities,’ he said. ‘This was just one example.’ Becker’s lawyers said they hoped their letter to Scientology would have a positive outcome. ‘We would note now, however, that we reserve the right to take the necessary legal steps if this case is repeated,’ they said. Stoffel said he had not yet been informed about the letter and could not speculate whether Scientology would cooperate with Becker’s request. He said he thought the story had been blown out of proportion, adding: ‘It’s been raining for days in Wimbledon and I think the journalists are desperately looking for something to write about.'”
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“You’re the bees knees, i-Betty. You’re the one.”
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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 May 31, 2024.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud.
Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Some defamation claims were removed by Judge Hammock. Leah seeking to amend her complaint.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to arbitration.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: motion to file new complaint, hearing on May 29.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration, on hold until appeal over new judge heard.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Ordered to mediation.
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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] Rizza Islam defiant as his trial on Medi-Cal fraud begins today
[TWO years ago] Scientology is uniting vastly different countries to take over the world!
[THREE years ago] Scientology to US Supreme Court: Valerie Haney predicament is not a First Amendment case
[FOUR years ago] Derek Bloch: Why is Scientology keeping a dying mother away from her son?
[FIVE years ago] Scientology destroyed her family, but this former Sea Org worker has a surprise ending
[SIX years ago] VIDEO: ‘Chicago Fire’ star Christian Stolte’s tribute to Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology’s sneaky strategy: Suck up to police departments through ‘Drug-Free’ campaigns
[EIGHT years ago] David Miscavige gets ribbon-happy in Florida: It’s the Scientology social media review!
[NINE years ago] Jefferson Hawkins on how Scientology closes minds — a new podcast
[TEN years ago] Scientology has a new recruitment video to get you to sign up for a billion years!
[ELEVEN years ago] JUSTICE KENNEDY DENIES SCIENTOLOGY REQUEST FOR STAY IN FORCED-ABORTION CASE
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Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Tammy Synovec has not seen her daughter Julia in 2,943 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,438 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,953 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,503 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,493 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,374 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,678 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,549 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,101 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,442 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,009 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,928 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,096 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,677 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,938 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,974 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,690 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 3,254 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,569 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,744 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 7,295 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,426 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,764 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,617 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,738 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,094 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 7,397 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,503 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,901 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,777 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,342 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,855 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,109 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,217 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on June 26, 2024 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, 1995-2023 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2023), 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
