More than five years after the publication of his epic history of Scientology, Going Clear, and three years since the hugely successful HBO documentary of the same name, Lawrence Wright is still the target of stupid dirty tricks and harassment.
Yesterday, he posted on Twitter and Facebook the news that someone has been sending out emails under the name “LawrenceWright@mail.com” asking his sources about Scientology, and he wanted to warn them that it was a sneaky scam…
A fraudulent account has been set up in my name, LawrenceWright@mail.com, soliciting information from sources about the Church of Scientology. You can guess who is behind it. Please do not respond to queries from that address.
Advertisement— Lawrence Wright (@lawrence_wright) November 8, 2018
We know a lot of you saw that message, because it was posted several times in our comments section. We were too busy yesterday to call Larry to learn more about the scam, but then last night we heard from Chris Shelton, who turned out to be one of the people who received an email from the bogus address.
Says Chris: “When I first got this email, I was obviously surprised because it’s not every day that you hear from Lawrence Wright. It says he’s writing a piece on Scientology and I immediately think that this must be a Going Clear follow-up and wouldn’t that be cool? This is all of about 1.5 seconds into the email and then I read the first question and I’m like, ‘Wait…wut?’ And from that moment forward it was obvious this email was NOT from Lawrence Wright and was very likely from some private investigator or directly from the Church of Scientology itself. The questions actually reminded me immediately of an article I’d read here on The Underground Bunker about a Church critic whose friends and neighbors were called by someone purporting to be doing an investigation of the critic for illegal acts. The only purpose of such an activity, of course, being to cast doubt about that critic and make his or her friends distance themselves. Scientology would be the only people who would think such brazenly nefarious and obvious tactics would still work in this age of instant communication and the Internet. So I immediately got onto verifying the authenticity of the email and once it was clear that Lawrence Wright had definitely not sent this, I contacted Tony and Karen and let them know what was up. The Church of Scientology (or anyone else for that matter) can waste their time trying to do this kind of nonsense, but it’s only fodder for our cannons.”
Well, we’re not sure what sort of effect the private investigator or other OSA operative was after when they wrote this. But all we can say is…
Thank you!
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Here’s more about the email from Chris and Jeffrey..
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Scientology’s celebrities and ‘Ideal Orgs’ — now with comments!
We’re building landing pages about David Miscavige’s favorite playthings, including celebrities and ‘Ideal Orgs.’ We’re hoping you’ll join in and help us gather as much information as we can about them, in order to build a record and maintain a watch as Scientology continues its inexorable decline — and yes, we finally have comments working on these new pages! Head on over and help us with links and photos and comments.
Scientology’s celebrities, from A to Z! Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!
Scientology’s ‘Ideal Orgs,’ from one end of the planet to the other! Help us build up pages about each these worldwide locations!
Today’s Ideal Org: Twin Cities, Minnesota!
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Now on sale: Twice the Miss Lovely!
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. What a pleasure it is for us to work with her on this after we wrote about her ordeal as a victim of Scientology’s “Fair Game” campaigns in our 2015 book, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, which is also on sale in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions.
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THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] French-kissing Wilt Chamberlain: Adventures of a teenager in the skeezy world of Scientology
[TWO years ago] How a new independent ‘church’ is trying to wrestle away control over the word ‘Scientology’
[THREE years ago] Scientology on the high seas: When L. Ron Hubbard was still making tech ‘breakthroughs’
[FOUR years ago] Scientology Sunday Funnies: Kirstie Alley is now Super Powered!
[FIVE years ago] Luis Garcia Responds to Scientology’s Arbitration Scheme
[SIX years ago] SHOCKER: Court Punishes Scientology For Acting Like…Scientology
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Bernie Headley has not seen his daughter Stephanie in 5,263 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 1,896 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 1,376 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 439 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 327 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 1,502 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 2,276 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,050 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 2,396 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 10,962 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 6,882 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,049 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 2,630 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 2,890 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 1,930 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 1,642 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 1,168 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 5,257 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 2,397 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 2,717 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 7,573 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 2,692 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,048 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 5,350 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 1,456 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 1,859 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 1,730 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 1,313 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 1,818 days.
Mary Jane Sterne has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,062 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 13,171 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on November 9, 2018 at 07:00
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Our book, 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, 1995-2017 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Undergound Bunker (2012-2017), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…
BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. 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
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Join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.
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