TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Alex Barnes-Ross has an exciting update for us regarding the ongoing controversy over his protests of Scientology at its UK headquarters in East Grinstead. Alex pushed back against a regional council’s proposals, and it looks like it’s really paid off. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“Expanded Dianetics contains our tech for the handling of the neurotic, psychotic and destructive impulses in Man as well as some people who give themselves trouble or have trouble. Dianetics as early as 1950 and 1951 had its successes in this field. Twenty years of research and experience isolated in 1970 what psychosis really was. When Expanded Dianetics was first issued those who compiled the case histories left many of them out and those they included were not shown as completed. This omission gave the impression that one did not finish an Expanded Dianetics case. In the current checksheets this has been repaired.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1977
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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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“If you don’t administer a good, tough Security Check, and if you don’t keep that Security Check good and keep it whole, you’re just setting it up for PCs not only to not be cleared but actually to start feeling miserable. Oddly enough, feeling miserable, they’re better off than they were being irresponsible. You got the idea? And they’ll tell you so, too. But you just peg them. You peg their processing gain. It isn’t that you do something overt that forces their case down; you peg their processing gain. And it’ll peg right up to the point where they become responsible for some overt act in the past. And there the case will hang. And that’s it. They’ve had it from there on. And you won’t get any further advance out of that case. So one of your rules is, is when a person ceases to advance rapidly, you just pick up Mr. Joburg and start in at the beginning and run through to the end. And you all of a sudden will find out why.” — L. Ron Hubbard, June 6, 1961
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“Running on entheta rumours without verifying them, not studying stats before action are deadly sins. Anyone who manages that way is really in treason. What really happened was NY staff apparently had some mutineers on it and former EC NY must have had them held down. The staff played ‘My Boss is an SP.’ So ECUS unwittingly listened to false reports, supported the mutiny, shot down the EC and crashed the org. The story is obvious from the stats.” — The Commodore, June 6, 1970
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“Hubbard was not just another protoplasm packet on the loose running around Earth. Spanning Hubbard from good to bad could probably kill someone if they managed to do it. Since the term Clear is pretty well not defined at this time, I have no idea what anyone is talking about, except that maybe they missed an implant or two or three or twelve which some of us probably did. He was without question one of the greatest minds to walk the earth, and was on a good roll for most of his stay here. What is clear is that Hubbard was an expert in Scientology long before he ever hit mud on Earth. Or else he was channeling experts who already knew what they were talking about when he did his work. It’s kind of like music, if your mind is open, the music starts pouring in. If your mind is open, the tech starts pouring in. It did take some extra human confront though.”
1999: Keith Henson reported that he lost the appeal of Scientology’s judgment against him. Scientology was awarded $75,000 for copyright violation when Keith posted the secret NOTS 34 level. “Just got word from the 9th after almost three months. Flat lost.”
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“Scientologists, like vaLLarrr for example, have told me that it doesn’t matter if LRH was nuts or a criminal, and they love to use Isaac Newton as an example of someone who was supposedly psychotic and believed in alchemy, but his law of universal gravitation ‘tech’ is observed to be true.”
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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, 2023. DA’s response to appeal brief due June 13.
— ‘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 June 16.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, convicted of fraud. Sentenced to 7 years in prison.
Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Some defamation claims were removed by Judge Hammock. Judge Hammock’s ruling is on appeal. Leah’s appeal brief due June 3.
— 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.
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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] John Travolta’s special friend is really getting a taste of the good life
[TWO years ago] Scientology has a new champion donor for US church construction — $62.1 MILLION!
[THREE years ago] Scientology under scrutiny? A stunning new document in the Danny Masterson case
[FOUR years ago] When going OT was the bomb: Testimonials about Scientology in its heyday
[FIVE years ago] Scientology mega-donor ABCMouse family is more complicated than we realized
[SIX years ago] ‘Scientology is Security for South Africa’: How L. Ron Hubbard sought to prop up apartheid
[SEVEN years ago] EXCLUSIVE: The rise and fall of the ‘Pope of Scientology’ — in his own words
[EIGHT years ago] Designer Rebecca Minkoff’s involvement in a Scientology front is pretty perfectly bad timing
[NINE years ago] Chick Corea’s glib revelation to the New York Times about Scientology’s ‘Maiden Voyage’
[TEN years ago] Jon Atack: The ‘Getting Clear’ conference and L. Ron Hubbard’s lies about his life
[ELEVEN years ago] Where is Scientology keeping Samantha Sterne?
[TWELVE years ago] Dianetics Has No Patience for ESP or Telepathy — That’s Pseudoscience!
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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 3,287 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,782 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,297 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,847 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,837 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,223 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,718 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,022 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,891 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,445 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,786 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,353 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,272 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,440 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,022 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,281 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 4,318 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,034 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 3,598 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,913 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,088 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,770 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,107 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,961 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,076 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,438 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,847 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,243 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,121 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,686 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,197 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,453 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,561 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on June 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
