TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: We want to thank readers who forward us Scientology’s various come-ons to its members. The item we have for you today is pitching the usual L. Ron Hubbard ‘technology’ to an unsuspecting public, but in an unusual way. What does it say about this struggling organization? [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
——————–
Technology Cocktail
“C/Sing is a happy job itself. And blessed is a C/S who has good standard New Era Dianetics auditors and good Scientology auditors on his lines and a good New Era Dianetics Course Supervisor making new good New Era Dianetics auditors and a good AO somewhere making good new VIIIs, all backed with orgs whose staffs know their Org Exec Course and policy. The C/S’s job only becomes unhappy and impossible when the auditors are nonstandard or the admin people never heard of lines or policy and he himself departs from the straight and narrow of New Era Dianetics and standard tech.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1978
——————–
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.
——————–
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
——————–
“You will be seeing a lot of this org board. And I’m merely pointing out to you about this, that there is something about it to understand. The first is that the org board does not change regardless of the size of the organization. It may get longer at the bottom, but it doesn’t change in its significant characteristics, departments, divisions or anything else. They remain constant, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a Class Zero Org consisting of three guys trying to lift their heads up off the pavement as an organization, or an organization of 200,000 staff members, it would be the same org board. And I know that startles you, but I almost told you the real figure: two billion. This board has a lot of back history, and it is a refined board. And I may as well tell you the truth here amongst us girls. This is a refined board that I spoke to you about in an earlier lecture of an old galactic civilization. And you say what’s that doing amongst us? Well, we applied Scientology to it, and found out why the civilization eventually failed. They lacked a couple of departments and that was enough to mess it all up. And they only lasted eighty trillion. We’ll be going a lot longer than that, so we want to get something substantial. We don’t want these temporary fly-by-night affairs, you know.” — L. Ron Hubbard, April 6, 1965
——————–
“ARTICLE: MSH has just had a hard hitting article by her published in the British ‘Mayfair’ magazine. SYSTEMS: The IBM Systems Engineers sales handbook is now drawn up using Scientology basic. This is the world’s largest electronic firms. The Moon Rocket and Fail-Safe bomb systems and almost every corporation’s computers are all IBM. I’m sure they’ve forgotten they used to use me in their ads 32 years ago ‘Famous Writer Uses IBM Electric Typewriters’. VALIDATION: When one wishes to help, is trying to help and is brought up sharly, he gets a failed purpose. I’d be very glad to hear how anyone’s effort to help has become invalidated. That’s all we’ve got really — both yours and my willingness to help.” — The Commodore, April 6, 1970
——————–
“It’s been my life goal since embarking onto Scientology to have some kind of knowledge retention or spiritual stabilization that will serve me on the next ‘go-around’ whenever and whenever that may be? Through all my life’s adventures my attention has always been on this! Even moreso, like the late great Chick Corea’s music philosophy reflects, a hope to eventually ‘return to forever.’ If we somehow don’t learn to ‘end cycle’ on our slavery to the body, whatever will our civilization become?”
——————–
2002: Tampa TV Channel 28 News reported on April 5th that a decision has been made by an appeals court that Scientology is trying to drag out the civil case to bankrupt the estate of Lisa McPherson. “A state appeals court has ordered the Church of Scientology to stop harassing the estate of Lisa McPherson. McPherson died while in the care of church staff members, and her family sued the Clearwater-based church for wrongful death. The church filed 47 demands to determine who is paying the family’s legal bills during the suit. The appeals court said that indicates the church is trying to drag out the suit until the family can no longer afford the legal bills.” From the District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District, denying Scientology the right to explore the sources of funds to continue the Lisa McPherson case. “The estate of Lisa McPherson petitions this court to quash a discovery order that grants a request by the Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization for production of documents. We grant the writ and quash the discovery order. The challenged order requires the estate to produce the following: All documents concerning the payment by any person or entity since January 1, 2000 of any sum of money over the amount of $500 to the plaintiff or her attorney or any representative or agent of plaintiff, used to pay for any cost, expense, or fee associated with this litigation, excluding payments from Robert Minton and any agreements thereto. We agree with the estate that if the challenged discovery is allowed, it will create irreparable harm that cannot be remedied on appeal. The defendant is seeking information from the plaintiff and its counsel regarding the source of contributions to fund the litigation. As the estate contends, this will create a chilling effect on receiving future funding. Furthermore, the estate points out that if it is forced to disclose how much money it has to spend on litigation prior to the conclusion of the case, the church will know how long the estate ‘can last before it has to throw in the towel due to lack of funds.’ The fact that this is the church’s forty-seventh request for production bolsters the conclusion that the church will litigate until the estate can no longer afford to continue.”
——————–
“Scientology ‘the religion’ is still engaged in medical fraud and could be charged as such if politicians in general had any balls or morals.”
——————–
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, 2023. DA’s response to appeal brief due April 15.
— ‘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 April 25.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, convicted of fraud. Pre-sentencing conference was held April 4. Next hearing scheduled for April 14.
Civil litigation:
— 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. Judge Upindra Kalra’s ruling denying Scientology’s motion to strike is on appeal.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration, gets ruling to depose Jane Doe 1. Trial has been set for January 10, 2028.
——————–
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?
——————–
THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] OOH LA LA: Scientology opens its ‘Ideal Org’ in Paris today and we’re on the scene!
[TWO years ago] Dave’s winning streak: Has Scientology made itself lawsuit-proof?
[THREE years ago] The Scientology oversharer goes Clear! Check out this epic graduation speech.
[FOUR years ago] A fight against Scientology ‘disconnection’ now a remarkable illustrated book
[FIVE years ago] Scientology million-dollar donor on COVID-19: ‘Healthy people don’t get sick’
[SIX years ago] Paulette Cooper’s ‘Scandal of Scientology’: The book that made Miss Lovely a target
[SEVEN years ago] Is Scientology really any different than other ‘churches’? Oh, you bet. Here’s one example.
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology disconnection: A toxic policy that punishes innocent people every day of the week
[NINE years ago] Lucia Ribisi ditches Scientology and says of famous dad Giovanni: ‘He’s questioned it’
[TEN years ago] Mike Rowe uses Facebook to rip Scientology over the treatment of his friend Spanky Taylor
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology Sunday Funnies: Sydney nears its big day, and Silicon Valley is in high gear!
[TWELVE years ago] One of Scientology’s Early Celebrities: Charlie Manson!
——————–
Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Joe Reaiche (1958-2024) did not see his daughter Alanna Masterson in his final 6,999 days.
Mike Rinder (1955-2025) did not see his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in his final 7,589 days.
Tammy Synovec has not seen her daughter Julia in 3,226 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,721 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,236 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,786 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,776 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,162 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,657 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,961 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,832 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,384 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,725 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,292 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,211 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,379 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,961 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,220 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 4,257 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,973 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 3,537 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,852 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,027 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,709 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,046 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,900 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,015 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,377 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,786 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,184 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,060 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,625 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,136 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,392 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,500 days.
——————–
Posted by Tony Ortega on April 6, 2025 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
