Now that’s what we call getting up in C.O.B.’s grill.
Clearwater residents have noticed the new billboard there challenging Scientology to take part in Leah Remini’s A&E series, Scientology and the Aftermath. We’ve noted that challenge in the past, but this seems particularly in-your-face, and it also brings up an obvious question…
…is this actually promotion for upcoming Aftermath activity?
We sent Leah Remini a message, asking her if she could tell us anything about it.
We will say that we have been sitting on some Aftermath news at the request of A&E, but we have a feeling that an announcement of some kind is coming very soon.
And this billboard sure has us itching to know more!
Pick up the phone, Dave! Or send an email, something. It’s time for you to sit down for an interview with Leah and Mike!
UPDATE: Leah tells us the billboard is the product of some loyal Aftermath supporters, and she appreciates the effort. “We’ve asked for three seasons for someone to come on the Aftermath, and no one will because they know they can’t confront anyone who knows the truth about Scientology.
“Regardless of the Aftermath’s schedule,” she continued, “Mike and I would show up anywhere, anytime, with cameras rolling if any Scientology executive or celebrity or current parishioner would ever have the courage to sit in front of us and answer questions about the church.”
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Scientology football is a thing?
Some time ago we started to get interested in what was going on at Clearwater Academy International, a small Scientology K-12 school, when one of its international football players, Italy’s Habakkuk Baldonado, was recruited to play at Pitt.
Why, we wondered, was a Scientology school wasting its time on the MEST work of importing international football players to get them signed at major colleges?
Well, writer Andy Staples at the subscription site The Athletic has done a great job explaining the football side of things, describing how former Clearwater Academy student (and Scientologist) Jesse Chinchar came back to the school to become head coach, and turned the tiny institution into a football powerhouse. Bringing in international players not only helped the school go from 6-man football to a full 11-man league, but also made it a hot recruiting station for colleges looking for unique talent.
OK, so it’s a nice football story. But again, why would a Scientology school want anything to do with such a thing?
Unfortunately, Staples doesn’t really seem very familiar with Scientology, and he gets completely snowed by the school, which convinces him that its curriculum is “secular” and not associated with the church.
We love how Scientology gets away with calling its exercises and processes — like clay modeling, bullbaiting, and yelling at ashtrays — “secular” when it’s done by one of its front groups, even though they’re the exact same activities that are done across the street at the Scientology church.
Speaking of which, Clearwater Academy’s graduations are held at the Fort Harrison Hotel, Scientology’s holiest spot…
Helping to make that point even stronger that he didn’t quite know who he was dealing with, Staples goes soft on one of the families that houses international students who come to Clearwater Academy. And who’s the host mom who gets the kid glove treatment? None other than Kannon Feshbach.
Yes, that Kannon Feshbach.
For those of you shrieking in agony, we apologize for assaulting you with one of the all-time Bunker spectacles, but we just had to bring it out of mothballs for this occasion.
Kannon is, of course, married to Kurt Feshbach, one of the notorious short-seller Feshbach brothers, who gave Scientology millions and helped David Miscavige develop “Super Power” back in the day.
In The Athletic story, she gets the aw-shucks treatment…
Kannon Feshbach knows what you’re thinking. How much did her grocery bill rise while housing two soon-to-be college defensive linemen? Not as much as you might think. But, she says, it has skyrocketed this year as she hosts tailbacks Ludovick Choquette (from Quebec) and Brendon Barrow (from Ontario). “They eat so much,” Feshbach says. “Like five times as much.”
Actually, that’s not what we were thinking. We’d love to chat with Kannon about her brother-in-law’s bankruptcy, or her niece’s divorce, or her husband rooking the county. In fact, the last thing we’d be wondering about is what her house guests eat.
Anyway, the Feshbachs are using their Scientology super powers to help Jesse Chinchar house Italian and Canadian football players in order to run up the score against local Christian schools, and to get those kids signed at major colleges.
It’s a really unique success story, but again, we just don’t see what Scientology gets out of it, and eventually David Miscavige is going to screw it up somehow, right?
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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?
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THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] Fake medals and kiddie diddlers: Scientology’s cruise ship scandal gets even worse
[TWO years ago] Stephen Colbert: Do you believe Scientology is a religion at all? Leah Remini: No
[THREE years ago] Whale watching update: Your 2016 mid-year guide to who’s propping up Scientology
[FOUR years ago] Why is the press so timid about outing Scientology’s many front groups?
[FIVE years ago] DOX: Here’s Monique Rathbun’s response to Scientology’s appeal of its anti-SLAPP defeat
[SIX years ago] LEAH REMINI FILES MISSING-PERSON REPORT ON SCIENTOLOGY LEADER’S WIFE
[SEVEN years ago] VH1’S Mimi Faust On Scientology: “At 13, They Told Me I Was a Freeloader”
[EIGHT years ago] A Scientologist’s Open Letter to the Village Voice and its Readers
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Bernie Headley has not seen his daughter Stephanie in 5,532 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 1,661 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,165 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 1,685 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 705 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 596 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 3,903 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 1,771 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 2,545 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,319 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 2,665 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,231 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,150 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,318 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 2,899 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,160 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,199 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 1,911 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 1,437 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 5,526 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 2,666 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 2,986 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 7,842 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 2,961 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,316 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 5,619 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 1,725 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,127 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 1,999 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 1,582 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,077 days.
Mary Jane Sterne has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,331 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 13,440 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on August 8, 2019 at 07:00
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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…
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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
