Jenna Elfman will emcee Scientology concert in England that sees David Miscavige’s return

Our friend Alexander “Apostate Alex” Barnes-Ross has come through again as he prepares for a major protest at the IAS gala this weekend, including a march on Friday.

Not only did he announce that the town council and local police have agreed to a road closure for the march at a time when Scientologists will be arriving for the weekend festivities, but he also sent us over two more fliers about the event, one of which contained something of a surprise.

We had wondered whether any of Scientology’s big celebrities would be making the scene, since this return of church leader David Miscavige to hosting the annual IAS gala in East Grinstead, England — after the pandemic forced it to be held in Florida the last three years — is a pretty big deal.

And now we know that at least one of the church’s celebs will be on hand: According to a flier Alex obtained, Jenna Elfman will emcee the charity concert that is held on Sunday night, and she’ll be introducing the first act, the Scientologist-manned music group Jive Aces.

That’s confirmed by the Jive Aces themselves, who listed Jenna Elfman as the concert emcee at their Facebook page.

We can’t remember the last time Elfman attended an IAS gala in England, if ever. (If you remember seeing her there, please let us know.) But we’ve long considered the Dharma and Greg actress to be one of the most hardcore and militant of Scientology’s celebrities.

The International Association of Scientologists (IAS) is Scientology’s membership organization and its legal defense fund. It was created in the 1980s when Scientology had suffered major setbacks in two lawsuits at the time. Today, church members are under huge pressure to donate $50,000 to become “patrons” of the IAS, and then to donate far, far more in order to achieve special status levels. You’re declared “Gold Meritorious,” for example, if you give the IAS more than $1 million in cumulative donations.

Each year, usually in October, the IAS traditionally holds its annual gala under a giant tent on the grounds of Saint Hill Manor, Scientology’s UK headquarters in East Grinstead. During the three-day festivities, Miscavige hands out “Freedom Medals” to two or three Scientologists for exemplary performance of some kind, he gives new trophies to the biggest donors, and on Sunday a charity concert is held.

Because of the pandemic, however, no events were held in England in 2020 through 2022, and the only reported sightings of Miscavige during that time were in the pages of church publications that said he had been attending Friday night graduations at the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, Florida. Otherwise, Miscavige was making himself scarce, and in February a federal court ruled that he was purposely evading process servers in a human trafficking lawsuit. The court declared him a defendant in that case, but then the lawsuit was forced into Scientology’s “religious arbitration” (that ruling is on appeal).

Miscavige has been named a defendant in even more lawsuits, and process servers have been sent out to find him, to no avail. So he’s taking a bit of a risk to fly to England so he can get on stage and deliver his usual hours-long address about how Scientology is growing by leaps and bounds. (It actually isn’t, but that’s never stopped him before.)

Barnes-Ross is doing his best to make sure Scientologists arriving for the event have to go past a protest, and perhaps at a very slow speed.

From 2 pm to 8 pm, about a kilometer of Saint Hill Road will be shut down by police in order to protect the protesters, slowing down arriving coaches and cars for the event to a crawl. (Here’s a map Alex provided at his website for the protest.)

 
We assume that Scientology is scrambling today to come up with an alternate way to get attendees to the manor.

We’ll be continuing to communicate with Alex as the event nears, and planning for how the Underground Bunker can check in on the participants on Friday afternoon. We’ll have more details on that later.

In the meantime, here’s the flier that Alex sent over, showing that Jenna Elfman will be the master of ceremonies at the concert…

 
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Technology Cocktail/

“The road to clear, proven over 13 years of intense research and vast numbers of auditing hours and cases, lies only in an auditor handling the Time Track and removing from it, by means governed by the Auditor’s Code, the material, both motivators and overts, which, recorded on it, is out of the control of the pc and holds the pc at effect.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1963

 
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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

 
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Source Code

“I hypnotized, one time, the staff of St. Elizabeth’s. Told them they’d heard a good speech and left the stage. They all came around afterwards saying, ‘What a good speech that was you gave!’ That was a mean thing to do. That was certainly backing out of it, wasn’t it? But it was in the early career of Dianetics and I felt very much like backing out of it. I was preceded by someone who told all of them how bad it was over ‘Ron-ward.’ They might afterwards have suspected my knowledge of the mind, but certainly not my knowledge of hypnotism. It’s very easy to hypnotize groups.” — L. Ron Hubbard, November 1, 1956

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“The cause of war is incompetent government. The cause of ‘secret intelligence wars’ is incompetent intelligence services. We have no intention of getting loused up here so be alert and handle it both as ship organization and with your own personnel PRO ashore. We are honest legitimate people. Where we go money flows in. The enemy must not be permitted to cut income off from our local friends because Jewish international bankers hate anyone who help such a country as this.” — The Commodore, November 1, 1969.

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Overheard in the FreeZone

“My reality on the whole track has expanded many times over. My postulates work far far better. My self determinism and pan determinism is exponentially greater. In many sessions I found myself blowing huge chunks of stuff that had derailed me many times through the years and it’s no longer anywhere around and I don’t think I could re-mock it up if I tried!”

 
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Past is Prologue

1997: Martin Ottmann posted an article from Scientology’s Celebrity magazine, in which the Los Angeles Police Department praised Scientology. “In time of rising violence where police officers literally risk their lives on a daily basis, they deserve the support of groups who have the purpose and dedication to get youth on the right track – free from drugs and crime. The Church of Scientology is one group which, in respect and appreciation of Hollywood’s police officers, have constantly given their support. In recognition of this support, Celebrity Centre International was recognized by the California Police Activities League (PAL) as the ‘Organization of the Year for 1996’ for ‘their outstanding contribution to their community through the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Hollywood PAL.’ Officer William Sera, PAL Officer for the LAPD’s Hollywood Division, presented the award at the annual California Police Activities League dinner. Sera, addressing the more than 200 attendees at the event, read a letter from Captain Constance Dial, Area Commanding Officer of the Hollywood Community Police Station: ‘The donation of your personal time as well as the countless hundreds of hours volunteered by members of your staff has been invaluable assistance to our youth programs…This display of enthusiasm and dedication to the young people of the community reflects the positive influence the Celebrity Centre has had for the Hollywood area.'”

 
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Random Howdy

“If Hubbard hadn’t created Scientology, no one would even remember him.”

 
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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.

Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Complaint filed August 2, Scientology submitting anti-SLAPP response Oct 26.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to arbitration. Plaintiffs allowed interlocutory appeal to Eleventh Circuit.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Discovery phase.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Ordered to mediation.

 
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SCIENTOLOGY: FAIR GAME

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 Insider: David Miscavige makes a telling change to Scientology’s ‘Ideal’ scam
[TWO years ago] The fulfilling life of a Scientologist in a chaotic world
[THREE years ago] Checking in with Scientology social media to see how the world takeover is going
[FOUR years ago] Kansas City going Ideal! Scientology’s grand opening is tomorrow — will Dave be there?
[FIVE years ago] Scientology’s new survey is a hoot — we’re itching for your answers!
[SIX years ago] Hey, Netflix, why does Scientology actor Danny Masterson still have a job?
[SEVEN years ago] Hillary Clinton has considered David Miscavige’s appeals lawyer for the US Supreme Court
[EIGHT years ago] Jonny Jacobsen: Reflecting on the first week of Scientology’s criminal trial in Belgium
[NINE years ago] Jon Atack: Are cult members — like those in Scientology — unduly influenced?
[TEN years ago] Scientology Surprise: An Interview With OTVIIIisGrrr8!
[ELEVEN years ago] Nathan Baca: Scientology’s Nevada Drug Rehab Program Is Completely Unregulated

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on November 1, 2023 at 07:00

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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, 1995-2022 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2022), 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

 

Tony Ortega at Rolling Stone