TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Ten years ago, we put together a list of the top 20 celebrities in Scientology, and in an interesting way: In order of those most likely to defect. Now a decade later, we asked Geoff Levin to go back over the list to see how we did as prognosticators. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“Man would not be man without affinity. Every animal has affinity to some degree but man is capable of feeling an especially large amount. Long before he organized into cities, he had organized into tribes and clans. Before the tribes and clans there were undoubtedly packs. Man’s instinctive need for affinity with his fellow human beings has long been recognized and his domestication of other animals shows that this affinity extends also to other species. One could have guessed that the race which first developed affinity to its highest degree would become the dominant race on any planet and this has been borne out. Although the kind of affinity enjoyed by the insect world can be shown to be an entirely different type of affinity (since it is not based on the individual remaining an individual and having affinity for another individual), nevertheless, this pseudo-affinity has made the insect world a dangerous rival for planet supremacy. The dangers of broken affinity have long been recognized by students of the human mind.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1951
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“We have learned that it does no good in America to advertise. It doesn’t do any good to advertise. We get everybody we get by word of mouth. You understand, I’m merely talking on percentiles. Something like three out of fifty or three out of twenty-five come in because of ads. That is our average for all over the country.” — L. Ron Hubbard, October 18, 1956
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“Talks: Thanks for the thanks I get on the talks. These Tapes (last 3 and onward) are to be copied and sent to other ships and added to AB Checksheet as the first items. LECTURE: THERE WILL BE NO LECTURE TONIGHT, Saturday or Sunday. They will resume Monday night. Two more are scheduled in the series — Monday and Tuesday.” — The Commodore, October 18, 1969
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“2.0 and above is where survival kicks in, and it’s way above 1.1 which is much or most of the Left. 2.0 is as high a tone as will impinge at all on the Left. It is the proper tone to adopt to drain the swamp. Trump has to come down from his chronic tone of action, 20.0, in order to communicate at all with the swamp dwellers. Study your materials. Find out who you really are. But we still love you. So I suggest for an amends project when you get up to ‘liability’ as an American, that you watch 50 or more ‘walk away’ videos, then make one of your own.”
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2001: “Barb” protested in San Diego on the day of their publicized Dianetics workshop. “The ‘Church’ of Scientology spent around $10,000 to have inserts placed in all the San Diego papers last Wednesday, advertising a 4 hour ‘Dianetics Workshop’ to relieve people of their anxieties over terrorism as well as any spare cash. Richard of Riverside joined me today, the other possible attendees were no-shows. My sign said, ‘WARNING! SCIENTOLOGY PROFITING FROM TERRORISM’ and Richard’s said, ‘SCIENTOLOGY, BAIT AND SWITCH FRAUD.’ Unfortunately, the only people I saw walking into the org today were Scientologists. A rather grim young man out in front handed out ads for the Dianetics book and some full color, slick paper brochures. This was to counter our presence, with our Xenu fliers, an insert, ‘Scientology Hurts People,’ a rather lengthy one ‘Would you want a cult in your town? TOO LATE!’ and some ‘Ron the War Zero’ brochures. The workshop was scheduled for 12:30, so we got there at 11:30. At one point a hefty blonde came out with a cell phone stuck to her head. Shortly thereafter, a police cruiser arrived. I showed them the flier invoking terrorism to sell their books, and both cops agreed that that sort of advertising was rather despicable. I gave them some fliers, and Richard asked if they’d been called by the org. Yes, they had. They stopped to make sure we kept things peaceful. Now two more cops know about their wretched scam! The phone research place across the street had some folks taking a smoke break outside, so we crossed over and handed them fliers while the clam boy glared at us. We put in an hour, just to warn any innocent raw meat who might happen to arrive for the Dianetics workshop, but it looked like the only interested parties already belonged to the cult.”
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“I asked vaLLarrr the Sci troll one time if any new OT levels were released, and they didn’t include Hubbard’s handwriting on some level, would s/he consider them genuine and s/he said ‘no’.”
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Sentenced to 30 years to life on Sep 7, 2023. Appeal heard and submitted, waiting for ruling. Masterson has also submitted a habeas corpus petition.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Pleaded guilty on Nov 10 to a 17-year prison sentence. Now serving time in state prison.
— Aaron Matthes charged for SA of child under 12 years old: OT Scientologist facing multiple mandatory life sentences. Next pretrial court hearing set for June 19.
Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Some defamation claims were removed by Judge Hammock. Scientology’s attempt to gut the case failed, and appeals court upheld. Back to trial court in December.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ 17 days of arbitration completed, Val waiting for further word from the IJC.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson. Judge Upindra Kalra’s ruling denying Scientology’s motion to strike upheld on appeal. Case returning to Kalra’s court.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration. Trial has been set for January 10, 2028. Hearing on arbitration motion set for March, 2027.
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Other links: The prosecution of Danny Masterson. Leah Remini’s Fair Game Podcast. Leah Remini’s A&E Series. Scientology’s Celebrities, from A to Z. Bryan Seymour’s suppressed series, 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] Scientology runs into even more obstacles as big tent party approaches
[TWO years ago] Former Scientology donor sentenced to 5.5 years on accusations by Trish Duggan
[THREE years ago] Jane Doe 1 denies validity of arbitration contract, opposes Scientology stay request
[FOUR years ago] ‘What’s Scientology on trial for?’ Danny Masterson lawyer hunted juror bias on Day 4
[FIVE years ago] Is it really possible to study Scientology and ignore the people who were damaged by it?
[SIX years ago] The Top 25 People Enabling Scientology, No. 11: Gary Soter
[SEVEN years ago] Duggans abandon scheme, give $48.8 million in AbbVie stock directly to Scientology
[EIGHT years ago] Read the ‘disconnection letter’ from a brother telling his sis — Sylvia DeWall — so long forever
[NINE years ago] Scientology slut-shames Mimi Faust after destroying her family because … it’s a church!
[TEN years ago] Trademark lawsuit against Scientology’s drug rehab network settles weeks before trial
[ELEVEN years ago] Countdown to Friday: ‘Scientology’s Dirty Tricks’ on the menu in Sydney
[TWELVE years ago] Tom Cruise shows up with his Scientology ‘Freedom Medal of Valor’ in London
[THIRTEEN years ago] Scientology Drug Rehab: New Evidence in the Disturbing Case of Richard Teague
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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 3,785 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,289 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,795 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,345 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,721 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 3,216 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,522 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 5,171 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,389 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,943 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 5,284 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,854 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,771 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,938 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,524 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,783 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,531 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 4,100 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,411 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,586 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 5,268 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,605 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,458 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,574 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,936 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,735 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,579 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 4,194 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,695 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,955 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 16,059 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on October 18, 2026 at 07:00
E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter.
Our book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is 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, 1995-2025 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)
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Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast
