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 bizarre game of cat-and-mouse Scientology leader David Miscavige is playing with West Sussex officials, and also with his own followers. Scientologists have been told to “save the date” for this year’s big IAS gala. But when is this shindig actually going to happen? [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“SUPPRESSED PERSON RUNDOWN. This is a magical rundown just now being released to Class IV and other orgs. It utilizes a principle found in an early ACC but never fully developed and released till ‘78 that one could bring the suppressive in a person’s life to communicate to him and seek peace, without ever contacting him. When expertly done on a person who has been the target of suppression by antagonistic people it brings him back to freedom and handles his environment as well. When one realizes that most illness is precipitated by suppression one can understand the need and use of such a miraculous rundown. It’s unbelievable until one experiences it.” — 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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“How do you run a grief charge? Take him to the beginning of the moment when the incident first occurred….This goes way back on the track to a thing called, evidently, the Weeper — salt water. And for about half a million years man was having a hell of a time trying to rush into the waves long enough to get some food and rush back to get some air. And he didn’t have anything with which to rush. And it was, and it was very frustrating. So frustration winds up in spilling salt water. He had a couple of little tubes and he pushed these out of the shell and he’d pump like mad trying to pump out all the salt water. You run a preclear on this and it’s just fabulous.” — L. Ron Hubbard, October 7, 1953
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“Persons on Festival posts must report back to former status and post. They will be assigned further by the ED 140 FAO Mission, Ens David Mayo in some instances. This mission, David Mayo and Andrea Sibirsky, has the job of phaseover. Help him all you can.” — The Commodore, October 7, 1971
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“At OT 34-40 (Games Master) = Games, one of the abilities is to get out of MEST Universe and appear at another time and space of MEST Universe at will.”
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1996: Hud Nordin reported a second appearance of the Scientology Chicken on the Conan O’Brien show. “The famous Scientology Chicken, Johnson, made his second appearance on NBC’s Conan O’Brien show, on Tuesday October 8 (broadcast early morning, October 9). The plot was about the same, the animated chicken is invited out to entertain the kids and fails to do anything but harp on L Ron Hubbard, Dianetics and scientology. This time, when pressed, Johnson’s aborted attempt at a story was about a boy named Tom, and a girl named Nicole, and a pie made out of… scientology berries!”
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“I had a dream I was L. Ron Hubbard and I was wearing a cape, sitting on a throne, with a bevy of teenage beauties sitting at my feet.”
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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 August 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 December 1.
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 was filed June 3. Respondent briefs are due September 2.
— 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 Does’ response to Scientology’s appeal brief submitted July 30. Scientology’s reply due October 20.
— 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] Can Scientology’s OT’s deflect Hurricane Milton headed right for its HQ?
[TWO years ago] PODCAST: Trish Conley and her sister Liz on how Scientology destroyed their family
[THREE years ago] Olmedo Rules: Details of the court’s decision on Scientology in Danny Masterson’s case
[FOUR years ago] Scientology OT, after having scam shut down, tests the waters for a comeback
[FIVE years ago] First look at ‘Brothers Broken,’ a Scientology documentary that features the Bunker
[SIX years ago] As Scientologists face another day in L.A. court, we have a bizarre twist to the case
[SEVEN years ago] Exploiting Tony Bourdain’s suicide or giving out weird massages, Scientology never rests
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology is hacked off that Luis Garcia and attorney will appear on ‘Leah Remini’
[NINE years ago] What’s the worst that can happen when you sue Scientology? Here’s one frightening example.
[TEN years ago] A secret Scientology wake, a ‘Snow White’ link, & more odd twists emerge in the Cat White story
[ELEVEN years ago] Comedy gold: Mark Ebner catches Scientology cheating with Sarah Silverman
[TWELVE years ago] U.S. SUPREME COURT DENIES SCIENTOLOGY IN FORCED-ABORTION LAWSUIT
[THIRTEEN years ago] How You Can Help Raise Money for Narconon’s Legal Defense!
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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 3,409 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,913 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,419 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,969 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,959 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,345 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,840 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,144 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 4,795 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,013 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,567 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,908 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,479 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,395 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,562 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,144 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,403 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 4,440 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,156 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 3,720 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,035 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,210 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,892 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,229 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,082 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,198 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,560 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,971 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,359 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,243 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,808 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,319 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,579 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,683 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on October 7, 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, 1995-2024 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2024), 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
