TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: It’s official: A regional council is recommending that a protest ban outside Scientology’s UK headquarters is not a good idea. As a result, the documents associated with the investigation are public, and we can now see how Scientology argued for this drastic change in the law. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“As a person goes through life and lifetimes he collides with secondaries, losses, deaths of those he is closely connected with, injuries, accidents, illnesses, operations and emotional stresses. These of course are not all, but cover the main complaints and symptoms of pcs. Dianetics lends itself to handle the current, past and occasional complaints and symptoms as above. It achieves its results by addressing and handling the spirit and is in no way to be confused with medical or other practices. The end phenomena of Dianetic auditing is a well and happy pc.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1978
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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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“There is a pool of thought, and all of a sudden one day a black spot appears in the middle of it, and the fellow can’t move. That incident you will find on most time tracks. Here was the pool of illusion, and if you ever want to see grief pour off a case, it is the individual’s loss of his home universe. They will tell you in various ways. You can take the most hard bitten preclear and run him back to a point of the track where all of a sudden the stars are falling down in his universe. He will cry and cry. He had a universe, he was probably one of several who invented this universe, and it was a perfectly good universe, and one day all of the stars fell down. Why? Somebody else got a universe invented, and it sort of overlapped and ate it all up. And that is what our MEST universe is doing, evidently. It is an expanding universe, and it just keeps on eating into everybody’s time and space.” — L. Ron Hubbard, June 23, 1952
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“LA CONGRESS: That sure should be quite a Convention in LA. Looks like we made it on Flag. They had no program, two halls with two ‘Congress’ programs, different, going on in each. Tony is there by now getting it grooved in. They did great selling tickets and publicity. Originally they wanted me to do a colour film for them. You ever stand under enough light to shoot colour? It’s about 150 degree F fry. All joking aside, it’s impossible.” — The Commodore, June 23, 1970
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“I could not run past lives. She would ask the question to go earlier and there was a complete blank. So then I ran a flow through my head to see if something was there and no meter reaction so I ran a flow through my head and put something there and the meter reacted and she said, ‘that.’ I popped completely out of this universe to a void of complete nothing. It would be like going from all noise to complete silence on EVERYTHING. Can’t feel body weight or the matter, energy, space, and time of any part of the physical universe. An instant after being in the void I pop back into the physical universe around 750 AD and everything turns on again with the exception is I am out of body in that lifetime looking down at castle in France or England. I took a look and popped completely out of that time back into the void of nothing and then back into PT, (present time). It is like nothing you can imagine unless you did it. Turning everything off completely and then everything on completely. They can’t take me in into the past because I was created from the static in the future with no automatic 25 picture a second recording memory.”
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1995: An update on the charges against Scientology executives in Spain was posted this week. “In November of 1988, Heber Jentszch, president of the Church of Scientology International was detained along with 69 other Scientology officials. He was then arrested and imprisoned for approximately 30 days and later released on bail of close to one million dollars. He is now required to return to face the charges made by the state attorney in this case when it comes to trial. The scientologists face over 100 complaints ranging from fraud and coercion to illicit organization. The State Attorney will charge them with approximately 90 different illegal acts. Another named party in the case is the now head of the Office of Special Affairs or OSA, Mr. Kurt Weiland. Weiland, the object of a search and detention order by the Spanish police in 1983, was connected at that time to an alleged kidnapping as well as acts against dissident Scientologists in that country. It is also doubted that Weiland will present himself at the time of the trial as he has been named as a principal missionaire involved in some of the alleged illicit acts which caused the case to be
opened. A date for the trial has not yet been established.”
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“I have never advocated for violence or vandalism against the cult for the obvious reason it would turn them into martyrs.”
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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] ‘Dropping the body’ in Scientology: An example of that instruction from the Sea Org
[TWO years ago] Mike Rinder and Christie Collbran have some good news for us all
[THREE years ago] Transcript: When Valerie Haney completed her escape from Scientology by vowing not to sue
[FOUR years ago] The celebrity Scientologists going out on a bit of a media blitz right now
[FIVE years ago] The key thing about Danny Masterson’s ‘DJ Donkey Punch’ nick is why he stopped using it
[SIX years ago] Scientology is hiring for a drug rehab whose location is a secret
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology and celebs: ‘Miscavige had several of us catering to Tom Cruise behind the scenes’
[EIGHT years ago] We have your Scientology ‘Maiden Voyage’ robo-call invitation, Los Angeles!
[NINE years ago] This is your brain on L. Ron Hubbard: Watergate, Scientology, and late-night radio
[TEN years ago] Reed Slatkin dies of heart attack — Scientologist served time as major Ponzi schemer
[ELEVEN years ago] Marc Headley continues his Scientology tour, and Steve Hall describes his defection
[TWELVE years ago] Sunday Funnies: Scientology Gets Colorful!
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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 3,304 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,799 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,314 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,864 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,854 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,240 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,735 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,039 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,908 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,462 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,803 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,370 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,289 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,457 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,039 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,298 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 4,335 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,051 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 3,615 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,930 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,105 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,787 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,124 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,978 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,093 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,455 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,864 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,260 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,138 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,703 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,214 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,474 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,578 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on June 23, 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
