TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Looking back 30 years later, it’s incredible to think that three medical professionals who were trying to prescribe something for Lisa McPherson were overruled by her Scientology ‘spiritual’ adviser. ALSO: Danny Masterson’s habeas petition hits an early snag with the court. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“A professional in the arts is one who obtains communication with the art form at the minimum sacrifice of technical quality. There is always some sacrifice of quality to communicate at all. The reduction of mass or time or impedimenta or facilities toward the ability to render a result is the exact measurement of how much technical perfection can be attempted. The rule is if one is being too perfectionistic to actually achieve a communication, reduce the mass, time, impedimenta or facilities sufficiently low to accomplish the communication but maintain the technique and perfection as high as is reconcilable with the result to be achieved and within one’s power to act. No communication is no art. To not do the communication for lack of technical perfection is the primary error. It is also an error not to push up the technical aspects of the result as high as possible.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1980
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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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“I remember trying to pick a little girl up out of a bombed carriage one time, about 1685, and I had quite a lose because I didn’t succeed in making her get on her feet, she was half blown to bits. And mechanisms didn’t work, and so forth, and tried to pick her up and dust her off, you know, as a thetan. And it didn’t work and it gave me a big lose and I got all confused and upset about the thing and then that was an overt not to have done it, you get the idea? But I was guilty of an overt in the first place, I eventually realized and found out, in that I was riding as the, as a bodyguard on this particular carriage, see, and I didn’t do it, you know. Something bad went wrong, see, something bad happened. Well, that’s guilty of an overt act right then. Don’t expect to control a situation that you’ve caused to that degree. Got the idea?” — L. Ron Hubbard, November 25, 1959
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“CLASS X: We have now graduated two Class X Internes. This is a good win and breaks the log jam. It takes quite a while to make a Class X in view of the intervening courses such as SHSBC, Class VIII, Class IX, to which are currently added a long Interneship of Class VII. There has been a very slow making of auditors in the field. The New York Org has just telexed that it has made its first Class IV in a year and a half…We are putting a new regulation into HCOs that 50 percent of all its recruits must go to Tech. In other words, for every two recruits, one of them must be put into full time training. Recent HCOs have had a tendency to neglect the establishment of Tech and Qual Divisions with qualified personnel.” — The Commodore, November 25, 1971
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“OMG i finished Mission Earth! Jesus christ that took ages. Theres no way i could have done it without listening to it while i was working. It woffles on, I could tell LRH was just amusing himself with it, really should have been 8 books long and would have made for the best ever, still totally awesome, love the data, i really know now the type of stuff Hubbard would talk about if he went on the Joe Rogan podcast. The most entertaining bits are when the storys on Earth and mocking our abberated society and when Sultan Gris does his outrageous out ethics behaviour. This story would make for a great games of thrones type tv series, somebody please make it!”
1996: The Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet published an article on Scientology’s war against NOTS web pages. “Many are scared when they get mile long letters from American lawyers who claim copyright and threaten to prosecute, says lawyer Knut Vigeland. Vigeland has just won a case in High Court (Lagmannsretten) where a client who had been swindled now has been awarded compensation from the Church of Scientology in Oslo. Vigeland has because of this case become well-known with the methods used by the Church of Scientology. First of all you should demand that any accusations are in Norwegian. Threats of prosecution is meaningless if there is no documentation of copyright according to Norwegian law and they refer to the actual Norwegian laws that have been violated. In USA there are 50 states and none of them have the same laws. In Norway we follow Norwegian laws, says lawyer Vigeland. He emphasizes that the Church of Scientology is not a church, but a business enterprise. Several Norwegian Internet providers have closed down Heldal-Lund’s home pages when the Church of Scientology have contacted them and threatened with American laws of copyright. Nettguiden in Ostfold has however had the secret Scientology documents available since the 15th of November. ‘I will let the documents be available here until I get a Norwegian court order that says what we do is illegal. I have received a big number of calls from USA. Recently I got a mail from a Norwegian lawyer who represents the church.’ ‘She claims that the church has been given approval in similar cases both in Sweden and Denmark. This I have asked the lawyer to substantiate’, says Oivind Robbestad who is editor of Nettguiden.”
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“I’ve always wanted to move to Australia. I could hang out at the pub all day with Nick Cave and the Cosmic Psychos, get a dingo, collect funnel web spiders and tiger snakes and swim with white pointers and salties. Send me a ticket and a few thousand dollars to tie up lose ends and I’ll be right over.”
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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:
— 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 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] Grant Cardone sues for being called not a billionaire, but his own emails suggest it
[TWO years ago] PODCAST: Apostate Alex exposes English mayor for sucking up to Scientology
[THREE years ago] There she blows! More Scientology whales spotted, including some surprises
[FOUR years ago] As Thanksgiving begins to get back to normal, it’s time to pass the Source again!
[SIX years ago] Leah Remini calls Beck’s sudden Scientology defection a ‘pussy move’
[SEVEN years ago] Kirstie Alley calls on her fellow Scientologists to pounce on another disaster
[EIGHT years ago] After a landmark court case, Scientology watchers should be celebrating, not sniping
[NINE years ago] That time when Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard didn’t invent surfing in California
[TEN years ago] Lisa McPherson and the doctors: Hamstrung by the ‘spiritual’ needs of a thetan
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology Armageddon: Now Sears — yes, Sears — is piling on the embattled church
[TWELVE years ago] SCIENTOLOGY DECLARES ACTRESS LEAH REMINI A “SUPPRESSIVE PERSON”
[THIRTEEN years ago] Sunday Funnies: Scientology Braces for the Holidays!
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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 3,458 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 3,962 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,468 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,018 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 3,008 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,394 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,889 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,193 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 4,844 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,062 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,616 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 4,957 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,528 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,444 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,611 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,193 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,452 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 4,489 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,204 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 3,769 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,084 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,259 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,941 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,278 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,131 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,247 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,609 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 4,020 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,408 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,292 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,857 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,368 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,628 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,732 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on November 25, 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, 20 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
