TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Sex? Space aliens? Actually, and we know this might be hard for you to believe, but Scientology’s chief obsession is with… business administration. Say what? Yes, it’s weird. And Val Ross is back to dig into the organizational scheme that’s underneath it all. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
— L. Ron Hubbard, 1971
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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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“The admiral’s office thinks very poorly of a person who gives any understanding to a crew about what they’re about, and who thinks very poorly of a ship that has fairly good morale. To have good morale is a condemnation. Got this? Now, that expediency goes up to a final peak where, man’s walking down the street, he’s picked up, he’s taken down to a spaceship, he’s laid in a bunk, he’s strapped down, given an injection. A speaker-phone starts going yap-yap-yap at him, indoctrinates him as a member of the crew, wipes out all former memory, works him over in general and he’s now part of the navy. Get the idea? It goes down to total no-determinism. Now, you just think I’m showing you a few of my engrams. They’re not my engrams; they’re the engrams of this race, and of all races in all times.” — L. Ron Hubbard, August 5, 1958
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“LONG VOYAGES: WE will sail on the 12th on a 450 mile voyage. The radio direction finder must be checked for operation and accuracy. Freight etc must be all in hand in this country. Various ports need notifying of new schedule. MEA will have to be alerted. Should remaining TRCs be brought aboard? The awnings come down. Lot of work to do on all this. The Capt FSO should schedule such cycles and get them done on a realistic basis so its not a last minue flat out. A nice long sea voyage followed by others will get your sea legs working. It’s a calm part of the year.” — The Commodore August 5, 1971
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“Trey Lotz promoted and supported Justin Craig in his claim to be the reincarnation of L. Ronald Hubbard. He even posted a win accompanied by a picture of himself and his wife with Craig, a/k/a Lafayette, to be seen by all in the independent field. Justin Craig is the biggest deceiver; not only does he allege he is Hubbard reincarnated but he plagiarized LRH’s processes and altered them for his convenience. Trey Lotz promoted and supported those squirrel processes, and in return Craig went onto expelling Trey from his squirrel group and declared that Scientology is dead! This created disturbance and disrepute in the independent Scientology field.”
1995: Ted Mayett, former Scientologist, has been attempting to get a refund from the Las Vegas org, and has taken the unusual step of attempting to picket their location. “The picket reads ‘They Lie About Money.’ When I arrived at the building there were 5 cars parked there. I park across the street and through the glass storefront I look at them and they look at me as I approach. And now I’m right in front of the glass, on the property, as I proceed to unsling and untie the picket. Before I get off the property. You may find this hard to believe. The door opens and one of them comes flying out. And it’s the DSA Las Vegas. She happened to be there. Well, the picket never happened. We stood in the heat for an hour, this woman and I. I do not mention her name because I am not sure of the legality of it. Ted, what is the problem? ______ you are being fed lies, this entire church is built on lies. She wants to know what lies. These people are truly brain dead. I tell her the people in this building alone have lied to me five times regarding this money. One of the boys comes out with a check for $500.00. I had already declined another partial payment, told them it was no big deal. That when they had the full amount I would be right out here and they could give it to me. Now I have two of them asking me to take the five hundred and not picket. I said yes and that I would be back Tue. for the balance. The said they would not have the balance by then. I said no problem, five hundred a day would keep me from picketing. But not less.”
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“One man’s moonbat is another man’s freedom fighter. Winning is the only thing that truly matters.”
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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.
— ‘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 May 31, 2024.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud.
Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Some defamation claims were removed by Judge Hammock. Leah seeking to amend her complaint.
— 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: motion to file new complaint, hearing on May 29.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration, on hold until appeal over new judge heard.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Ordered to mediation.
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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] PODCAST: Spanky Taylor and Karen Pressley assess Leah Remini’s damage on Scientology!
[TWO years ago] Jane Doe 1 makes rare statement: Don’t delay Danny Masterson trial for baseball conflict
[THREE years ago] John Travolta sells Clearwater house: What are the Scientology ramifications?
[FOUR years ago] As Los Angeles schools prepare to reopen, Scientology keeps trying to worm its way in
[FIVE years ago] Scientology is the coolest religion on earth, video proves
[SIX years ago] California is on fire, and Scientology naturally sees a golden recruiting opportunity
[SEVEN years ago] An unusual Scientology advertisement leads to new intel on secretive ‘Int Base’
[EIGHT years ago] Florida man sues medical sleep testing company after its dapper CEO forced Scientology on him
[NINE years ago] What really happens at a Scientology rehab? Nick Lister dishes on the Narconon experience
[TEN years ago] Mareka Brousseau compares growing up in Scientology to The Hunger Games
[ELEVEN years ago] Will Shelly Miscavige Be Trotted Out at the Celebrity Centre Gala As a PR Stunt?
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Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Tammy Synovec has not seen her daughter Julia in 2,983 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,478 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,993 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,543 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,533 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,414 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,718 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,589 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,141 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,482 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,049 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,968 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,136 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,718 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,978 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 4,014 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,730 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 3,294 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,609 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,784 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 7,335 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,466 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,804 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,657 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,778 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,134 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 7,437 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,543 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,941 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,817 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,382 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,895 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,149 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,257 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on August 5, 2024 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
