TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Readers who saw Scientology’s new TV ad yesterday asked, are these actors or Scientologists? Thanks to another reader, we learned that the woman most prominent in the ad is both, actress and Scientologist, and yes, she has a connection to one of the church’s darkest scandals. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“Whenever one is working with children or foreign language persons or semiliterates Method 7 READING ALOUD is used. In this method the person is made to read aloud to find out what he is doing. It is a very simple method. It is done without a meter. It is used on such persons before other methods in order to get the person untangled. If a person does not seem to be progressing by studying silently, one has him read aloud. Another copy of the same text must also be followed by the Word Clearer as the person reads. Startling things can be observed.” — 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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“Space opera used to be a lot of fun, you know. You’d spend two hours getting into your suit, and you get all this equipment and you get it all here and there and you stuff it and fill up your pockets, and then you climb up with this two hundred pounds of stuff, up a ladder that’s about 30 feet tall, to get into some kind of an airport. And you get inside this ship, you see, and then you regulate about 500 switches and you have to repair four or five electronic circuits and you patch some things together with chewing gum and you strap yourself down in a seat and take off. And then you navigate like mad, going three times the speed of light, trying to navigate by stars that are invisible for some days. And then you land someplace for the skin of your teeth, and boy, you really knew you did something. That’s right. You really knew you did something.” — L. Ron Hubbard, November 18, 1953
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“TIME MAG: Probably the bitterest news opponent to Dianetics in the US was TIME MAGAZINE. It started lying loudly in 1950 in its flip entheta style and gave me more space that year than it gave the president. All lies. We did not identify Why until last year. Their ‘medical health’ editor (Keller) is a member of the World Federation of Mental Health and in their pay. It is TIME policy to enturbulate America, cause riots and disaffection. If you read it in Time it isn’t true. A movement such as ours is the death knell of Fascist fear masters. As much US press is Communist, and as the active Communists organization numbers 400,000 in the US, I am very happy to see Time making a false claim about ‘having Krushchev’s memoirs.’ Time would forge same, get Russia to deny it for publicity. World press is full of this dispute and has been for some time now. So Time has bitten off too big a bite, told too big a lie. It is in financial trouble already. It would be a happy day if they crashed. The more WFMH network collapses the better chance man will have to survive. What a PR trick! Forge ‘memoirs’ get the author to deny it — all for big publicity — typical Time tactics. There’s no bitterness involved. It is always amusing to see a biter bit.” — The Commodore, November 18, 1970
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“Of course the interesting question is how does an invader force, any invader force, arise in the first place? What is the fundamental spiritual compromise behind it all in present time, here and now and behind the present time scenario here and now on Planet Earth? Where does this fundamental compromise occur? SIMPLICITY: REKINDLE PURPOSE. This simplicity handles the Circuit/3rdParty/PTS/SP Case, including Meercats, Marcabs, or anyone else. We are all spiritual beings living in a material world who have been displaced from our home worlds, our spiritual reality and our native or natural state.”
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1995: David Milligan continues his battle for the Internet domain ‘dianetics.com’. “I will continue to use dianetics.com for the next 90 days, during that time I will be offering mail service for a flat fee of $90.00 CANADIAN for the set-up of a E-Mail account and an aliases such as ‘lron@dianetics.com’ or ‘brainwash@dianetics.com’ this will be an actual valid return address for your E-Mail. The funds will go to pay the provider of the E-Mail service and to start a legal fund to fight the attempt to take this domain from me, if I win I will continue to provide the mail service to all Net users. My stand on this is, if RTC chooses not to negotiate a resolution to this dispute I would like to challenge the Trademark rights in court, I believe that the current Trademark laws do not effectively deal with the use of a name as a address on the Internet.”
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“Scientologists spend decades on staff and in the Sea Org and never come close to reaching Clear. The number one stated goal of Scientology is to ‘clear the planet’ i.e, convert everyone to Scientology either by taking their money or making them indentured servants. Staff and S.O are told not to worry about course work, they can do that in their next lifetimes. The bottom line in Scientology is UPSTAT vs DOWNSTAT. Everything else is window dressing.”
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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.
— ‘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 November 15.
— 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] After success in England, Scientology planning major end-of-year blowout in LA
[TWO years ago] CONFIRMED: David Boies firm now represents Jane Doe 2 & 3 in Scientology civil lawsuit
[THREE years ago] Evidence that Scientology is still taking Sea Org women to clinics for forced abortions
[FOUR years ago] What’s it like at Scientology’s ‘Hogwarts’? This 14-year-old vlogger will show you!
[FIVE years ago] SCIENTOLOGY DOCUMENT LEAKS: Stunning new revelations span the 1960s to 2017
[SIX years ago] Leah Remini kicks off 3rd season with emotional toll caused by Scientology’s ‘aftermath’
[SEVEN years ago] Sinar Parman, 1954-2017: Chef to Scientology’s celebs who escaped to dish on L. Ron Hubbard
[EIGHT years ago] Even the local Scientology mission is hiding a horror show of abuse: Kelly Jordan tells her tale
[NINE years ago] Lisa McPherson’s last opportunity for standard care ended 20 years ago today
[TEN years ago] What Adrian Chen got wrong about Anonymous and Scientology
[ELEVEN years ago] EXCLUSIVE: First Interview with the Principal of Will & Jada Smith’s Shuttered Scientology School
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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 3,087 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,582 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,097 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,647 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,637 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,023 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,518 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,822 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,693 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,245 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,586 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,153 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,072 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,240 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,822 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,082 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 4,118 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,834 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 3,398 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,713 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,888 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,570 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,907 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,761 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,876 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,238 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 7,541 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,647 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,045 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,921 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,486 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,997 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,253 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,361 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on November 18, 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
