TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: In May, Scientology celebrated the 75th anniversary of the book that started it all, L. Ron Hubbard’s ‘Dianetics.’ Actor Jason Dohring is promoting the book’s relaunch with a personal appearance at a Barnes & Noble tonight in Fullerton, California. ALSO: More very young recruits [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“Any org or mission staff declaring a Dianetic Clear ‘achieved in other practices’ is subject to expulsion from the Church. Technically, a very few thetans have never been anything but Clear. These few didn’t ‘go Clear’ on anything; they have simply always been Clear. When a natural Clear is found it should be so stated. To assign this condition to some other practice is a suppression of Dianetics and Scientology. Anyone evaluating for or feeding a preclear data to persuade him to declare Dianetic Clear is also actionable.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1979
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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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“At any given time on the track an individual is a member of two or three groups at the same time. Member of the family, he’s a member of the society, he’s a member of the business he’s connected with. I mean anything like that, you know? Even if he’s a bum, he’s a member of a group called bums. He’s at least two or three groups, you see? All right. Now, how long has he been on the track? About two hundred trillion. And I’d say that it was about three groups every twenty-five years would be the most conservative underestimate of the situation. So that is something on the order of twelve groups a century times two hundred trillion less one hundred, you see? Less two cycles. So, it’s two trillion times twelve, or twenty-four trillion, and you would have to do this twenty-four trillion times. Now, how long are you going to live? Could you afford the number of E-Meters that you were going to wear out during this period?” — L. Ron Hubbard, October 24, 1961
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“Most healing is in a primitive state. We are actually far more precise and organized in Dianetic and Scientology auditing than in any of the so-called healing arts. Almost all of our troubles come from being flanked on all sides with incompetent ‘sciences.’ These include medicine, psychiatry, chemistry — you name it. The world’s ‘sciences’ are so imbalanced they are delivering an overt product — a decaying Earth. The animal kingdom is almost gone. The rivers and seas support less and less life. If ‘science’ was so good, there would be steady improvement in the planet itself. And there isn’t. This goes directly back to Man’s failure to solve the riddle of himself. This failure then opened the door to domination by destructive personalities. If we ourselves get rid of the idea we are just drifting along with the tide and begin to demand and deliver high level performance on every post, we can get there while there’s still a planet left. We must raise our sights as to what we expect from ourselves and each other. Only then can we arrest and then reverse the decline. For this reason I am following a policy of demanding high competence on post and a total intolerance of slackness. We must be and can be a very sharp smart organization. I am doing all I can to make it so. Help me out.” — The Commodore, October 24, 1971
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“What kinds of ‘dark’ things did Ron do in his past? I don’t really want to know. I’m a lot more interested in all the stuff Ron wrote about and spoke of which has to do with Scientology. And for which I’m endlessly grateful.”
1999: Mark Bunker, the creator of Xenu-TV, reported being followed by a private investigator recently. “I was about 45 minutes away from home today in a mall in Redondo Beach. A woman came up to me and said ‘Do you know that man has been taking your picture for the past hour?’ She pointed at a man across the mall who spun around when he saw me. The heavyset, squat, hispanic man quickly aimed his camera at The Disney Store and pretended to take a picture of it. This woman said she had been watching him for some time while she and her friend had lunch. The P.I. was leaving the mall and going into the parking structure and I asked security if they were going to stop him. They told me that they had simply told him he can’t take pictures in the mall and asked him to leave. I caught up with the man as he entered the parking structure. I went up to him and asked him how Mike Rinder was doing. Told him I was very concerned about Mike’s health after seeing him in person a couple months back. I also asked about Moxon and Kobrin but he didn’t seem to know any of these people. I decided to spend some time with this guy and ask him a lot of questions, such as if he didn’t work for Scientology, why did he need all those photographs of me? We had a lot of time to chat because I decided to walk him to his car. This should have been a short trip but this fellow didn’t seem to want to go to his car now. He wanted to talk about the baseball game but I had other topics I felt should be covered like Snow White and Paulette Cooper and Lisa McPherson. We then strolled into a furniture store for about 15 seconds as he pretended to look at prices on some tables but I was still prattling on about the recent DM declaration and how DM’s perjury was going to bring the whole house of cards tumbling down. He quickly decided it wasn’t a good time to invest in furniture so we left the store and walked back across the street. As we headed back to the parking structure, a taxi was sitting nearby. The PI went up to the driver and asked him if he could take him somewhere and the cabbie agreed. I told the driver just what a fine fellow he had as a passenger and let them head off to unknown destinations taking comfort in knowing that I had caused this guy some inconvenience as he had to leave his car behind for a while and come back to claim it later. The PI claimed his name was Ben Hernandez.”
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“The statistical fact that the vast majority of people who tried Scientology walked away from it almost immediately belies this idea that it’s a world class predatory system. A five percent success rate at hooking sucker fish is not impressive.”
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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 August 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 December 1.
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 submitted July 30. Scientology’s reply due October 20.
— 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] Scientology school in LA sued over cover-up of coach imprisoned for sex abuse
[TWO years ago] VIDEO: Scientology’s IAS tent is up, and the London staff is so stoked!
[THREE years ago] PODCAST: Marc Headley on the Scientology spy at the Danny Masterson trial
[FOUR years ago] Scientology wanted to make him their next superstar: The strange death of Kuba Ka
[FIVE years ago] An early revolt against Scientology leader David Miscavige found in 1983 document
[SIX years ago] Court docs say Danny Masterson was served in lawsuit filed by rape victims — but was he?
[SEVEN years ago] Phil Jones: How Scientology sucked me in — even as National Lampoon warned me
[EIGHT years ago] Tonight on ‘Leah Remini’: The business of Scientology, and the pitfalls of suing it
[NINE years ago] Kathy Slevin, sister who attacked Paul Haggis on behalf of Scientology, dies at 60
[TEN years ago] From our man in Europe: Details on the Dutch denial of tax exemption to Scientology
[ELEVEN years ago] Ryan Hamilton hit with setback as Narconon motion to dismiss prevails on some issues
[TWELVE years ago] Jefferson Hawkins on Scientology Ethics: Let’s Get Utilitarian!
[THIRTEEN years ago] It’s Official: Tommy Davis No Longer a Scientology Spokesman
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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 3,426 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,930 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,436 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,986 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,976 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,362 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,857 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,161 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 4,812 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,030 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,584 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,925 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,496 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,412 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,579 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,161 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,420 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 4,457 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,172 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 3,737 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,052 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,227 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,909 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,246 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,099 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,215 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,577 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,988 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,376 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,260 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,825 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,336 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,596 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,700 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on October 24, 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, 1995-2024 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2024), 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, 20 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
