Leah Remini’s A&E series, Scientology and the Aftermath, concluded its third season on February 5. In past years, we’ve heard about her show being renewed about a month after a season finale, so we don’t expect word to arrive about a possible fourth season of the show for some time yet. But Scientology appears to be pulling out all the stops to persuade A&E not to give Leah another round.
Yesterday, Scientology’s “LA Faith Coalition” showed up with some local participants outside the Manhattan offices of A&E on 45th Street, carrying signs urging A&E to “stop the hate,” and targeting A&E CEO Paul Buccieri, who has been smeared online for months with Scientology propaganda.
Scientology’s fake “grass roots” protest organization, the “Stand League,” bellowed about the demonstration on its Twitter feed…
Leah Remini reacted with a statement of her own…
And so did her costar, Mike Rinder…
And we were relieved to find out that Stand League leader Ed Parkin got a trip to New York out of the deal…
That protest, at least, got some local press, as the Atlantic and the New York Times got a big laugh out of the lengths Scientology would go to protest a magazine article that had come out months earlier.
This time, flying a group of shills over from Los Angeles has only netted the church a small Twitter skirmish. How times change.
——————–
Brandon Reisdorf’s parents speak out
We received this statement last night from Lois and Gary Reisdorf about their son Brandon’s arrest…
Gary and I would like to thank everyone for the overwhelming support for us and Brandon. We felt that we needed to provide further information regarding Brandon’s current legal situation. As you can imagine we are devastated and in damage control and trying our hardest to keep Brandon out of jail (potentially a few years in prison). Our lawyer has given us approval for this to go out. We would prefer our privacy during this time but the Church of Scientology put out their own smear campaign about this situation first, so we feel the need to respond.
We do not at this time have all the info and are still in the middle of figuring things out, but this is what we know:
In November Brandon went to court to ask permission to go to Mexico for Thanksgiving, which is what we do every year as a family. It was a simple hearing but the church sent their lawyer. Brandon told us that he and the lawyer got into a conversation which Brandon thought went well, thinking that they the church also wanted this to end for Brandon. I was highly skeptical of this interchange, as you can imagine.
But in January Brandon had another hearing to set a date in the future to actually have his probation from the hammer-throwing incident ended and the charge made into a misdemeanor. He had done great on probation and the probation department were going to support this new hearing. This hearing was set for February 11, this past Monday. However, during the January hearing the church lawyer filed a “court filing” on Brandon which was devastating to him and which we doubt the validity of some of the content. Even though Brandon was happy that he would have the February 11 hearing, he was very upset about the church filing. In addition to this, in January, the murder happened to the Sea Org member in Australia. The church put out their usual attacks about this, blaming Leah Remini’s A&E show, which Brandon had participated in, and specifically mentioning Brandon and his incident.
This combined set of circumstances put him over the edge and he slowly started to become depressed and perhaps one could say, disengaged from reality.
A week ago with the new hearing about to happen on February 11, Brandon disappeared with no money. We spent the past week looking for him and thinking the worst. We asked our lawyer on Thursday or Friday to please postpone his hearing, the church were also informed the hearing would be postponed, as we could not find him and felt he was not in the best state of mind. We also had the probation people looking for him as they were also very worried.
We had been calling jails and hospitals. On Sunday morning I checked the various websites and sure enough we found him in jail with a probation violation misdemeanor charge. We figured it was something not too serious, like drinking or something…we were so relieved he had been found.
However, on Monday we found out that he had been arrested outside of the San Diego Org. Our hearts sunk. We could not believe this as in the past year or more, Brandon wouldn’t even let us take an off-ramp that could get within 3 or 4 blocks of the Scientology Org. He was seriously, completely afraid of getting within two blocks of the org.
But it gets even more weird. Brandon had a citizen’s arrest done on him by a member of the church who happened to have handcuffs, and who cuffed him and then called the police. Apparently on Saturday they had caught him on their video outside of the Org. He then came back later and that is when they did the citizen’s arrest and called police. He was put into jail Saturday night.
We do not know what actually occurred as we haven’t been able to speak with him as yet regarding this situation.
This is all the info we have. He is currently in jail and getting care. He has a hearing next Thursday for the two new charges, including felony probation violation.
This is all we know at this time.
We as a family want Brandon home and under our care and hopefully he can learn from this unfortunate experience and learn to cope with his problems in life. He is a very good person when he is himself. He is a kind, caring, respectful person and has a big future ahead of him if he can accept the care he needs. A very special person gave us this bit of wisdom – it sometimes takes a relapse to recover.
— Lois and Gary Reisdorf
——————–
The Sun’s child sex abuse story
We had heard this story was coming, and we’re surprised by a couple of things. First, that the 40-year-old accuser is not named, since he’s been named in other stories, including a couple here at the Bunker. And second, that the Clearwater Police Department is actually trying to get its hands on Scientology files. We know how difficult that is, and Leah Remini has demonstrated how little effort the Clearwater PD has put into tangling with the church in recent years.
We hope it’s true that the Clearwater police are taking this seriously. If they would demand files from the church, they would probably find a lot more problems than the 25-year-old allegations of one man.
——————–
Start making your plans!
——————–
Scientology’s celebrities, ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and more!
We’ve been building landing pages about David Miscavige’s favorite playthings, including celebrities and ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and we’re hoping you’ll join in and help us gather as much information as we can about them. 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!
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 our weekly series. How many have you read?
——————–
THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] PROSECUTORS PREPARE CHARGES CARRYING LIFE SENTENCE FOR DANNY MASTERSON
[TWO years ago] 25 years ago today: Scientology leader David Miscavige’s ‘Nightline’ appearance
[THREE years ago] Karen de la Carriere: Scientology is smearing me again, and hitting below the belt
[FOUR years ago] More secrets from Scientology’s vanished entity, Narconon International
[FIVE years ago] Scientology’s $100,000 girl records a video promoting a fundraising event in California
[SIX years ago] Scientology’s Spiffy Golden Era Studios Has Its Own Dentist!
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology’s Shocking Treatment of Children Held in a Suburban Labor Camp
——————–
Bernie Headley has not seen his daughter Stephanie in 5,360 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 1,491 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 1,993 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 1,473 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 536 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 424 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 3,731 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 1,599 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 2,373 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,147 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 2,493 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,059 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 6,979 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,146 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 2,727 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 2,987 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,027 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 1,739 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 1,265 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 5,354 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 2,494 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 2,814 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 7,670 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 2,789 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,145 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 5,447 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 1,553 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 1,956 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 1,827 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 1,410 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 1,905 days.
Mary Jane Sterne has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,159 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 13,268 days.
——————–
Posted by Tony Ortega on February 14, 2019 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, 1995-2018 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2018), 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, ten 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
