TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: We saw Tom Cruise and John Travolta give church leader David Miscavige a standing ovation the night he revealed Scientology’s new focus on children. And now, it’s the kids’ turn. The success stories are starting to come in as children share their ‘wins and gains.’ [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“An individual has been lying in this small room. He’s very ill. He’s been lying in this small room for days and days and weeks and weeks and you’re going to process him. Just get him into a little bit larger space. The tremendous tiredness he will experience is just giving him a little more space and a greater remoteness of wall. You take him out of his room into a larger room, he will start to experience tiredness. If you did that every day, and you gave him a little more space every day and gradiently scaled him up the line a little bit more and a little bit more, the individual would snap out of it. It’s quite interesting because what you’re doing is giving him a gradient scale of larger spaces to confront. Just don’t give it to him with such steep doses that he finds them unconfrontable and you’ve got it made.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1981
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“I think California has laws that nobody can cure cancer. And they’ve just disobeyed that law in England because a doctor up there, who is a Dianetic Auditor, has just cured somebody of totally proven cancer. Has taken him over to the medical association and a big conference and so on, and displayed him complete with the X-rays and so forth. So, gee it’s a good thing he didn’t do that in California. We had an auditor, in 1950s, who was actually arrested for the fact of — proven conclusively, because he’d audited somebody and they had gotten well and it was against the law to cure that disease. He got off, there wasn’t anything happened to him at all, somebody was just making a push on it locally. Pretty crazy, huh? Proved it conclusively. Against the law to heal it and he’d done it.” — L. Ron Hubbard, April 7, 1972
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“COMMENDED: Quentin Hubbard is assigned a Condition of Affluence and commended for a long time performance of high volume and high quality sessions. He is a very popular auditor and I am sure his many pcs will agree.” — The Commodore, April 7, 1970
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“Nothing substitutes the action of people in the field writing knowledge reports on dangerous auditors. The problem is that those knowledge reports written by people in the field have been not-ised (deleted) by Facebook group owners. That only protects and enboldens the dangerous auditors being reported. The problem is at the level of group owners. The ones that protect offending auditors. Look at the WHY Finding post in this group. It describes the problem.”
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1997: Lars Westergren posted a transcript of a show on Scientology from BBC World. “Buildings like this aren’t cheap. Scientology founds itself by a doctrine of exchange. Members can pay thousands of dollars to complete all their courses, in payments that are called donations, but are in fact obligatory. Few churches prompt more antagonism than this one. A Greek judge has called scientology dangerous. The German government says that its financial demands can read to ruin and even suicide. But here in America, critics are more concerned with the Church of Scientology’s relentless bid, for public recognition. David Rodier is a professor of religion at American University. ‘They feel if you attack they attack in kind, and perhaps even more violently. And I think many people find this very threatening. New religions are by their very nature strange and odd, and we feel uncomfortable around them. And then when they, in addition to that, don’t behave according to our stereotypes the way religions should behave, then we _do_ get very uncomfortable.’ Sylvia Stanard: ‘The church has dealt with criticism, because we feel that people need to know what scientology is. And its also just – sociologically it is a very interesting phenomena that all new religions go through this. I mean, we’ve researched and gone through what they said about the Catholics in the 1700s, and all sorts of _wild_ accusations. I mean, the Mormons were killed. And that was a hundred years ago.'”
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“‘Revolt in the Stars’ should be a new reality show where Scientology celebs are put into the Sea Org and the viewers watch as one by one they quit in anguish and leave stupid Scientology.”
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Sentenced to 30 years to life on Sep 7, 2023. Appeal now fully briefed, waiting for 2nd Appellate District court to set a hearing date. Masterson has also submitted a habeas corpus petition.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Pleaded guilty on Nov 10 to a 17-year prison sentence (eligible for parole in two to three more years). Awaiting transfer to state prison.
— Aaron Matthes charged for SA of child under 12 years old: OT Scientologist facing multiple mandatory life sentences. Next pretrial court hearing set for March 9.
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, which is now fully briefed. Awaiting the setting of an oral arguments hearing.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ 15 days of arbitration completed, Val waiting for further word from the IJC.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson. Judge Upindra Kalra’s ruling denying Scientology’s motion to strike is on appeal. Appeal fully briefed. Motion to replace Jane Does’ AI-tainted brief denied by court. Oral arguments hearing on March 3.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration. Trial has been set for January 10, 2028.
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Other links: The prosecution of Danny Masterson. Leah Remini’s Fair Game Podcast. Leah Remini’s A&E Series. Scientology’s Celebrities, from A to Z. Bryan Seymour’s suppressed series, 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] David Miscavige shows up for Scientology ‘Ideal Org’ grand opening in South Africa
[TWO years ago] David Miscavige a no-show as Scientology opens ‘Ideal Org’ in dreary corner of Paris
[THREE years ago] Danny Masterson wanted to delay trial to August: See how Judge Olmedo responded
[FOUR years ago] YouTube king, chiropractor Eric Berg, sued for forcing Scientology on employee
[FIVE years ago] Leaked audio: Proof that government officials know about Scientology’s crimes
[SIX years ago] In the pandemic epicenter, Scientology’s New York Org puts on a fab virtual ‘Sunday Service’
[SEVEN years ago] Foreign ‘expansion,’ thanks to US Scientologists forking over the millions
[EIGHT years ago] On Day One, 2018’s Writers of the Future party betrays its connection to Scientology’s abuses
[NINE years ago] XENU VICTORIOUS: Scientology bamboozles USA Today to help it fight the ‘evil psychs’
[TEN years ago] Phil Jones reflects on the media frenzy at the dedication of his anti-Scientology billboard
[ELEVEN years ago] 25 of the biggest lies told by L. Ron Hubbard and the Church of Scientology
[TWELVE years ago] Hideouts for Scientologists on the lam: Another book from Ron Miscavige
[THIRTEEN years ago] Narconon Tackles NFL Legend Jim Brown, Anne Archer Snags a Kennedy
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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 3,591 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,095 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,601 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,151 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 3,141 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,527 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 3,022 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,326 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 4,977 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,195 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,749 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 5,090 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,661 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,577 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,744 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,330 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,585 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,337 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 3,902 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,217 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,392 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 5,074 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,411 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,264 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,380 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,742 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 4,153 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,541 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,425 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,989 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,501 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,761 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,865 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on April 7, 2026 at 07:00
E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter.
Our book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is 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)
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Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast
