TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: What a surprising few weeks it’s been in Clearwater, Florida, the town Scientology has been trying to turn into its own Vatican. And maybe the most surprising has been the sudden rise of a grass-roots campaign to oppose Scientology’s plans, led by local educator Brooks Gibbs. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“Doctors are too often careless and incompetent, psychiatrists are simply outright murderers. The solution is not to pick up their pieces for them but to demand medical doctors become competent and to abolish psychiatry and psychiatrists as well as psychologists and other infamous Nazi criminal outgrowths. Society and police agencies should deal with such offenses. It is not up to Scientologists to salvage the wreckage created by these professions, but to prevent it from happening in the first place by reforming a degraded society. Until such time as doctors have become fully competent and psychiatry and psychology have been recognized for what they are and abolished, Case Supervisors and auditors are actionable for surrendering their rights and handling such. It is not that they cannot. They must not.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1976
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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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“Now you get down toward the Center of this galaxy and the possibility of finding somebody without the Helatrobus Implants, of finding any foreign implant system, will probably be totally negligible. Probably nonextant, you see? But out here you got a mixed bag and we don’t know what they did in the next galaxy. See? Now, science fiction writers following the cue of some chap, I’ve forgotten his name now, Einstein, Beinstein, something like that, who said that MC squared over C wouldn’t go, man, and that the speed of light could not be excessive. And actually I was looking up some speed tables the other day, and a trillion light years per day is not full throttle on a space wagon. So there’s traffic between galaxies and there’s traffic between islands of galaxies and other islands of galaxies. Interesting.” — L. Ron Hubbard, May 21, 1963
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“The auditing was in general better today. Auditors go in fads — now it’s ‘feelings.’ Nobody has any aches, pains or misemotions. They have ‘feelings!’ What happened to good old PAIN. Some aren’t able to confront the flak we get into. It takes a bit of guts to be around Flag. And some get very nervous and want to leave. We have 3 or 4 good things I don’t quit. Thanks for holding the ship together.” — The Commodore, May 21, 1969
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“Way before I ever got into Scientology I had total recall on having gone to the implant station and I was showed a film of Christ dying on the cross. I felt great sympathy for him because I was WAY down on the tone scale – I had just got done destroying an entire planet and torturing the people, and I felt so bad about it that I tried to kill myself by pushing myself spiritually down as far as I could go – but of course that only ends up in TOTAL Failure. Of course, even though I had total recall on everything that had happened on the implant station, the evil beings tricked me after putting me in a doll body that looked totally like the one I used to have and then they kicked me out of it with an extremely strong force of electrical voltage, shooting me out into outer space and I fell next to a big glowing white orb, which I thought was God. It spoke to me telepathically and told me I could go down to earth (the beautiful blue marble we were looking at) and do anything I wanted after asking what I wanted to do – Ha! What a lie that is!”
1997: Zenon Panoussis posted updates on his case against Scientology for copyright and trade secret violation. “I had a word with the public prosecutor the other day. The scienos have reported me for copyright infringement and there is an ongoing criminal investigation against me. Well, if the prosecutor prosecutes me, he will have to prove the infringement in court, and he doesn’t think that masked scriptures are sufficient proof. So he has asked the CoS to provide him with the texts in a legible form. Ever since December, when the prosecutor made this request the first time, the CoS has been stalling. They haven’t refused to provide the open texts, but they haven’t provided them either. Their problem is obvious: if they release the works to the prosecutor, he will have to release them to me. The scienos claim, with the help of our dear professor Marianne Levin, that the release of a work to someone under a non-disclosure agreement does not constitute a release in the sense of the copyright law. Now, the scienos could possibly bind the prosecutor with a non-disclosure agreement, although it would be very dubious, but they could hardly bind me. If they release the works to the prosecutor, knowing that he must and will release them to me, wouldn’t that constitute a release to ‘the public’ even according to their own standpoint?”
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“The only other ‘church’ I can think of that stoops to calling people names is the Westboro Baptist Church.”
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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. DA’s response to appeal brief due June 13.
— ‘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 June 16.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, convicted of fraud. Sentenced to 7 years in prison.
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. Leah’s appeal brief due June 3.
— 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. Judge Upindra Kalra’s ruling denying Scientology’s motion to strike is on appeal.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration, gets ruling to depose Jane Doe 1. Trial has been set for January 10, 2028.
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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] Another ‘Tom Cruise leaving Scientology’ squawk from the tabs, and the weakest ever
[TWO years ago] Scientology spying on Amy Scobee and Mat Pesch: Cameras pointed in their home
[THREE years ago] THE VALESKA PARIS DECLARATION: Here’s her full report to Clearwater PD on Scientology abuses
[FOUR years ago] Day four of the Danny Masterson prelim: The arguments and a ruling!
[FIVE years ago] Scientology so stoked you watched ‘Spread a Smile’ video, it’s trying to cash in tonight
[SIX years ago] A Scientologist is brutally murdered in Peoria, but you didn’t hear it from Scientology
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology’s elaborate use of child labor for pennies an hour, spelled out in black and white
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology may be crumbling, but around the world it’s still plotting a planetary takeover
[NINE years ago] Atack: Contradictions in L. Ron Hubbard’s “tech” only increase Scientology discipline
[TEN years ago] Leah Remini and Paulette Cooper? Scientology can start worrying now
[ELEVEN years ago] No, LA Weekly, Tom Cruise’s career was not ruined by a GIF
[TWELVE years ago] Disconnection: Scientology’s Most Toxic Sacrament
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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 3,271 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,766 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,281 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,831 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,821 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,207 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,702 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,006 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,875 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,429 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,770 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,337 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,256 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,424 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,006 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,265 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 4,302 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,018 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 3,582 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,897 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,072 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,754 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,091 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,945 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,060 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,422 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,831 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,227 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,105 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,670 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,181 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,437 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,545 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on May 21, 2025 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
