Yesterday we broke the news that Cathriona White, Jim Carrey’s on-again, off-again girlfriend who killed herself Monday, had been taking Scientology courses for four or five years. Her friends told us that when she began dating Carrey again earlier this year, she had recently finished the “Purification Rundown” course at the Hollywood Celebrity Centre, and had started on the “Survival Rundown,” an intense course that she reportedly had trouble with.
Now, we have a little more information about who she was doing those courses with, a small-time actor and professional poker player named Travis Case. She identifies Case as her “twin” in Instagram photos, and even posted a photograph of the two of them going through the Purification Rundown’s sauna regimen.
In some Scientology courses, members are paired with a “twin” to go through the exercises together.
It was one of our eagle-eyed readers, Pete Griffiths in Ireland, who spotted tell-tale images and hashtags that Cathriona posted to her Instagram account.
Cat identifies Case as her twin in this photo as well as the location — “CC” — which is short for the Celebrity Centre (and we do recognize the literature in the photo as that from Scientology). Sunny Pereira, a former Sea Org member who worked at the Celebrity Centre, tells us she does recognize this room as one that is in the facility.
Here’s another photo Cat posted of the two of them, in the sauna doing the Purification Rundown…
Case has been a Scientologist since at least 1998, he’s an aspiring actor who has worked as Ashton Kutcher’s stand-in on Two and a Half Men, and at his Instagram account he announced this summer that he was becoming a professional poker player.
Here’s a photo he posted of himself going for an audition in 1920s garb…
And another he posted of himself with fellow actor and Scientologist Patrick Renna, best known for his role in 1993’s The Sandlot…
We’re trying to reach Mr. Case today. We’d like to ask him about doing the Purification Rundown with Cat, and we’d like to know if he was also “twinned” with her on the Survival Rundown, a lengthy and intense course of “objective processes” that is creating problems for some Scientologists.
In May, we wrote a story about the Survival Rundown with help from Chris Shelton, a former Sea Org executive. He told us that he’s heard troubling things about how the length of the Survival Rundown and its “objectives” exercises is causing bewildering effects for its participants.
“There is no question that these are psychologically damaging procedures which were put together by L. Ron Hubbard for at least two obvious reasons,” Shelton says. “One, to get his followers into a state where they are willing to be controlled by Scientology and give over their right to free will and independent thought; two, to induce a kind of overwhelming hypnotic state which has to be ‘run out’ during the course of the Objectives process, convincing a person that he has somehow shed past trauma, stress and ‘unconscious states,’ when in fact the Objectives themselves are what produce that stress, trauma and unconsciousness. Every single Objective process follows this pattern.”
Cathriona reportedly stalled during her pursuit of the “objectives” and the Survival Rundown several months before she killed herself. Had she been twinned with Case on that course? We’d like to ask him that question.
UPDATE: Former Sea Org worker and Int Base employee John Peeler remembers Travis Case and his brother, Aaron — “I grew up with Travis’ brother Aaron Case in Scientology and knew Travis through Aaron. Travis and Aaron were both born into Scientology and grew up in it.vAaron was also at the Int Base while I was there all throughout the 90’s. Aaron was a security guard and was brought up to the base because he has a black belt in various forms of martial arts as taught by his dad Al Case who is a martial arts instructor. Al used to have classes and most of his clients were Scientologists, me being included for a time. Aaron and I both left the Sea Org at about the same time. We were both being held at the Old Gilman House for a long stint before we left. I think Aaron eventually routed out and I managed to blow [Scientology jargon for “escape”]. We talked briefly a couple of years ago, but Aaron is still very in, and I let him know how I felt about Scientology, so we don’t talk anymore.”
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Chris Shelton’s interview of Robyn Capella, part five
Chris and Robyn dive into OSA’s tactics. Here’s his summary…
In this episode we get into her experience with OSA as the Director of Special Affairs for Mountain View org and what that entailed. There’s a lot of ground we cover in this, but there’s even more to her OSA work in next week’s video. It was just too much to pack into one episode. We talk here about what OSA does and the court cases she was involved in, directly working with Kendrick Moxon in the Cynthia Kisser libel case. We also cover what the day-to-day life of a DSA is like and how they are educated on dealing with protesters. However, we also address something much more important: the mindset a dyed-in-the-wool, Kool-Aid drinking cult member when they are exposed to the raw truth about Scientology through their day-to-day work. Despite what you would think or what “common sense” might tell you, those who work for OSA can manage to convince themselves that everything critics, ex-members and the media say are all a bunch of vicious and unfounded lies. It’s hard to believe knowing what we know about the organization but it’s actually a statement of the level of mind control and delusion that Scientologists suffer from that intelligent and otherwise sensible people like Robyn or even the likes of Kendrick Moxon, can continue to shunt off cognitive dissonance by sticking with the Scientology scripts and not allowing themselves to even think that the “enemy” might have a point or two. I thought this was perhaps one of the most important parts of this interview with Robyn and we take it up a couple of times to really drive home how Scientology gets away with it. I hope this is as interesting to everyone as it was to me.
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Bonus photos from our tipsters
Bruce Wiseman hosts a CCHR golf event in Southern California because that’s how much he cares. Whattaguy. Take that, evil psychs!
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BOOK NOTES
We didn’t get a chance to include photos in our book, so we’ve posted them at a dedicated page. Reader Sookie put together a complete index and we’re hosting it here on the website. Copies of the paperback version of ‘The Unbreakable Miss Lovely’ are on sale at Amazon. The Kindle edition is also available, and shipping instantly.
Tony Ortega’s upcoming appearances (and check out the interactive map to our ongoing tour)…
Oct 23: Sydney, Giant Dwarf Theatre (with Sen. Nick Xenophon)
Oct 25: Melbourne, venue secured (announcement coming later)
Oct 28: Adelaide, Wheatsheaf Hotel, (with Sen. Nick Xenophon)
Oct 30: Perth
Past dates: Santa Barbara (5/16), Hollywood (5/17), Orange County (5/17), San Diego (5/20), San Francisco (5/22), New York (6/11), Chicago (6/20), Toronto (6/22), Clearwater (6/28), Washington DC (7/12), Hartford (7/14), Denver (7/17), Dallas (7/20), Houston (7/22), San Antonio (7/24), Austin (7/25), Paris (7/29), London (8/4), Boston (8/24), Phoenix (9/15), Cleveland (9/23), Minneapolis (9/24), Portland (9/27), Seattle (9/28), Vancouver BC (9/29)
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Posted by Tony Ortega on October 1, 2015 at 07:00
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Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…
BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of LA attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
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
PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer
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
Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield
