TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: In Scientology, becoming sick is an ethical failing that you get punished for. So, many Scientologists would rather avoid getting treatment than admit something is wrong, and sometimes with tragic results. Val Ross explains how this played out in her life. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“Dianetic overruns are repaired by assessing and handling the L3RF. But the real cure is to flawlessly handle Dianetic EPs by getting the postulate, F/N and VGIs and then promptly ending off on that chain with a bright and happy pc. Recognizing the postulate when it comes off and never never running a pc beyond it are vitally important to the success of New Era Dianetics sessions. It’s the POSTULATE we are going for in New Era Dianetics.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1978
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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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“I got in a silly cycle. I don’t know, a trillion, trillennia, trillennia, trillennia ago. And every time they had a war, why, I went out. I would either be a pilot in, or commander of, or somebody connected with an interceptor squadron on the outside of the capital. Societies used to last longer than they do now. And it wasn’t anything for a society to go a billion years without much change. But, every time the society would get into trouble, usually with the same adversaries, why, that was the drop of the hat. That was the signal. The whistle had gone and you would go down and snappily report to the Seventeenth Interceptor Squadron, which had in charge of it the protection of the capital, don’t you see? And the enemy would come over and you would take off in an interceptor and you would go up to the center of the airport and you would either shoot down the attacking plane or be shot down and always at the center of the same airport — for a billion years. ” — L. Ron Hubbard, July 20, 1961
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“The ‘alarming increasing debt’ stat of the US is a negative stat. Actually it parallels almost exactly the decrease of the value of the dollar AND SO HASN’T RISEN IN 53 YEARS! Yet the ‘financial wizards’ in the world bank use it to reduce credit in the US which will bring on a depression which lets them grab the securities and properties cheaply. The eggheads in charge continually indulge in false stats or think negative stats are useful. And ignore the psychiatric negative stat of increasing insanity and crime which parallels cash received by governments and psychiatrists. But you can only prove how bad something is by negative stats. You can’t really determine production. Imagine having how many Ethics orders put on one as his stat! Negative ideal scene — One who flunks is penalized without regard to value or production. US Citizens have that stat! And any other country!” — The Commodore, July 20, 1970
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“Spiritual cleansing of Mexican pyramids is one OT Project that Captain Bill Robertson would certainly approve. In the cleansing of pyramids in Mexico, the practice of human sacrifice appears as a key event. But this practice of extracting the heart and drinking the blood is actually a ritual of a group known as the ‘Brotherhood of the Snake.’ The investigation of abductee Truman L. Cash has discovered that this practice was carried out in the pyramid of Giza, in Egypt. Those who performed it were human-looking ETs whom he calls the Serpent Staff Pleiadians. This ritual performed at Giza is connected with the secret rituals of Freemasonry and human sacrifice in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.”
2001: “Noumenon” reported on an event on the Freewinds featuring a video from David Miscavige. “I went to the second installment of the ‘maiden voyage’ event which features the head of the church, Miscavige. It was a video of an early-June public presentation given on the church’s ocean-going vessel. This was billed as a ‘must-see’ event for all scientologists, promising to give information on the incredible breakthroughs for opening up the bridge to total freedom for everyone. The entire event was a presentation by Miscavige and no one else. ‘With pre-OTs now enrolled on new OT 8, the next target is the release of new OT 9 and 10. So tonight I’m going to talk to you about technical application and recent actions that have been taken to cause a dramatic impact on speed up the bridge. The goal is no less than every Scientologist moving up to OT. And to comprehend the full significance of that, let’s take this datum that comes from HCOPL 28 July 59, Our Goals; ‘You’ve heard it said everybody is a Scientologist, some just haven’t cognited yet.’ LRH. We could have located and listed out every error, every auditor or solo auditor in the world and then addressed each of them one by one. Dramatically increasing the speed of progress up the bridge so it helps every Scientologist make it to OT. Let me give you the big picture on how we’re dramatically speeding case progress up the bridge. ‘DO THE GRADE CHART.'”
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“Seeing as how Louanne and vaLLarrr are dead in the head, that makes you the last Internet canary clam in the coal mine, Marco. How’s the 2-pack-a-day anti-cancer therapy working out?”
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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 July 14.
— ‘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 July 7.
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 Does’ response to Scientology’s appeal brief is due July 3.
— 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] The telex machine wasn’t Scientology’s only old-tech obsession
[TWO years ago] FIELD TRIP: Hey, is that a Scientology ‘Advanced Org,’ and where is everyone?
[THREE years ago] Scientology begs radical US Supreme Court to intervene and protect its ‘religious freedom’
[FOUR years ago] BRIAN STATLER WAS UNARMED: Police say he grabbed their gun in Scientology org shooting
[FIVE years ago] Why Scientology can worry if John Travolta and Lisa Marie Presley seek solace in each other
[SIX years ago] Scientology failed to destroy Sylvia DeWall, but its latest letter to her is simply bizarre
[EIGHT years ago] Tommy Davis’s Hollywood experiment is apparently over as he moves to Splitsville
[NINE years ago] BILLBOARD UP IN FLORIDA: Scientology ‘disconnection’ on view near Clearwater ‘mecca’
[TEN years ago] Stacy Murphy is still dead, but Oklahoma gives the Scientology rehab that killed her new life
[ELEVEN years ago] Sunday Funnies: Scientology has only its ‘humanitarians’ to help it refurbish eyesores
[TWELVE years ago] Perez Hilton Has Poor Reading Skills: Here’s a Leah Remini Primer for the Word-Challenged
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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 3,331 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,835 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,341 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,891 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,881 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,267 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,762 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,066 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,935 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,489 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,830 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,397 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,316 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,484 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,066 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,325 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 4,362 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,078 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 3,642 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,957 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,132 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,814 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,151 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,005 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,120 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,482 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,891 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,281 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,165 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,730 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,241 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,501 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,605 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on July 20, 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
