TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Controversy has erupted over former President Trump’s use of Stanley Kubrick’s 1987 anti-war film ‘Full Metal Jacket,’ which Stanley’s daughter Vivian says her dad would have approved of. But the press covering it seems to have forgotten that Vivian is a nutty Scientology loon. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“The cutting down of knowingness and the Remedy of Havingness have opposite vectors. The Remedy of Havingness will knock out old energy masses the thetan is holding on to, or that the body is holding on to, which tell the thetan he is stupid. The supplanting of these by new energy masses which do not have the postulate of cutdown knowingness in them of course makes the thetan brighter.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1972
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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 fellow who says, ‘Well, all right, all right, so they’re fighting in M-ghanistan. I can’t do anything about it.’ You’ve suddenly — you’ve suddenly had him admit that he couldn’t, he couldn’t have the space of M-ghanistan. And now, this is the biggest trick that your real entheta boys use. They get people to go around admitting they can’t have any — can’t do anything about things.” — L. Ron Hubbard, October 16, 1953
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“Command Intention for the ship at this time is TO HAVE A FULLY OPERATIONAL SHIP, SMART COMPETENT CREW AND A POSH YACHT ATMOSPHERE AND APPEARANCE FOR SHIP AND CREW. Command Intention for the Flag Org at this time is TO COPE AND CONTINUE AT HIGH SPEED THOSE ACTIONS ALREADY IN PROGRESS AND PROVING SO WORTHWHILE IN Station Ships, AOs and orgs. Flag personnel, attention to the external affairs of the SO and improve those down stats.” — The Commodore October 16, 1969
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“Do you think President Donald Trump is an OT? He must know that focusing on beingness by donating his havingness altruistically makes him even more powereful. The other side has witches practicing magic against him, yet he seems to grow in power. I support him at Tone 40. I shudder to think what Liberty we might lose to practice our beliefs if the communists come into power. It is the same press they control that works to destroy Scientology as works to destroy President Trump.”
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1997: Bob Minton received threats from Scientology this week, attempting to pressure him to stop substantial contributions to Scientology critics and anti-cult organizations. “I got another call from one of the osa pod people on Tuesday night, the ever engaging Mary Frances (MF). She was out of the yes sir no sir mode of just a few nights ago and into pure harassment and intimidation. She indicated that $cientology was prepared to start attacking me on or in a number of areas unless I stopped giving financial support to their enemies. The areas of possible attack conveyed to me were: Family, Children, Ex-wife, Ex-business partners, State and Federal taxes, Mental Health, Drugs, Paying picketers. MF informed me that the people I was listening to were ‘lunatics’ and only another lunatic would pay any attention to them. ‘Surely you can see that nobody else is doing what you are doing–doesn’t that say something to you?’ squealed MF. Then she wants to know point blank ‘Are you going to stop giving money to these people or not?’ You figure it out osa $cumbag! Please rest assured that I am not shuddering into silence. My check writing hand still works. And, finally osa continues to bumble along: e.g., the osa goon standing in front of my neighbors house on Wednesday morning made a quick retreat to his beat-up car a few steps away on the corner of West Cedar St. and Pinckney St. when he saw me exit my house, look his way and walk towards him. He then sped the 50ft down Pinckney and banged a right on Charles St. at Starbucks, where I was heading for a coffee. Problem was for this guy was that Charles St. is one way in the opposite direction. At rush hour in the morning it’s a bit busy -:). The horns and cars made the next 150ft a bit of a spectacle as he then banged a left on Revere St. going to Storrow Drive. One more problem–he was again going the wrong way.”
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“The only sexual magick Crowley had came from an opium pipe or a syringe loaded with smack that let him keep it up all night. In street parlance it’s called ‘dope dick’.”
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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:
— 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] Mirriam Francis: Scientology’s system of abuse was exposed by the Danny Masterson trials
[TWO years ago] PODCAST: Auditing Mary Sue Hubbard while Scientology kept her on house arrest
[THREE years ago] When L. Ron Hubbard’s Scientology followers put him on the spot about space opera
[FOUR years ago] Danny Masterson ‘accidentally’ outs Jane Doe accuser after judge told him not to
[FIVE years ago] Tom Cruise at the IAS gala with his kids Connor and Isabella? We think it’s likely.
[SIX years ago] Growing up in Scientology, and growing together outside of it: An appeal
[SEVEN years ago] Crashing a ‘Mace-Kingsley’ event in Pasadena to get some answers about Scientology and kids
[EIGHT years ago] Our story last week about Narconon deaths kicked up a fuss — and news of two more deaths
[NINE years ago] Scientology on trial in Belgium: An update from our man in Europe
[TEN years ago] The Garcias answer Scientology’s ‘International Justice Chief’ with an affidavit by Mike Rinder
[ELEVEN years ago] SCIENTOLOGY’S FRAUD CONVICTION UPHELD BY FRANCE’S HIGHEST COURT
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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.
Tammy Synovec has not seen her daughter Julia in 3,054 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,549 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,064 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,614 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,604 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 4,990 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,485 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,789 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,660 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,212 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,553 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,120 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,039 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,207 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,789 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,049 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 4,085 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,801 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 3,365 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,680 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,855 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,537 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,875 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,728 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,843 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,205 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 7,508 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,614 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,012 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,888 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,453 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,965 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,220 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,328 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on October 16, 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
