LEAKED: ‘SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS’ EPISODE THAT WAS SPIKED BY AUSSIE NETWORK

 
The Underground Bunker has learned that the initial episode of ‘Scientology Black Ops,’ a special 7NEWS Australia investigation that was cancelled by the network in July, has been leaked to the Internet.

We had time to watch the episode and prepare a transcript of it, and we’re posting the video as an embed for you to see here.

Ten episodes were scheduled to be published to the 7NEWS website on July 14 when the network changed its mind, cancelled the program, and also pulled down a trailer it had made for the series.

The network put out a cryptic statement about why it had pulled the show, and we reported that two of the participants in the program, Leah Remini and Mike Rinder, believed the show had been axed as the result of pressure from two of the people portrayed in it, Scientology actor Tom Cruise and former Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis.

Remini and Rinder surmised that Cruise and Davis had used the influence of their friend billionaire Australian businessman James Packer, who has a close relationship with Kerry Stokes, chairman of Seven West Media, which owns the network.

(We were interviewed for the series by 7NEWS reporter Bryan Seymour in December, but we do not appear in the episode we found online and embedded below.)

This episode focuses on Paul Haggis, the Oscar-winning writer and director as well as Scientology defector and chief subject of the 2015 HBO movie Going Clear, who has not given a public interview in a couple of years. In that time, he’s faced allegations of rape by publicist Haleigh Breest, who says that Haggis sexually assaulted her in 2013 at his Soho apartment after a film screening. Haggis says that the 2013 encounter was consensual.

In the episode Seymour reminds us that when Haggis was featured in a 2011 New Yorker article about leaving Scientology, he predicted that within a couple of years he would be the subject of a scandal that would appear to have no connection to Scientology. Breest, the law firm representing her, and three additional women who came forward to accuse Haggis after Breest’s lawsuit became public have all denied having any connection to the church.

Seymour goes through Haggis’s rise in Hollywood and his defection from Scientology, and ends the episode with Haggis saying that once a person gets on Scientology’s enemies list, they never leave it. Leah Remini then makes a brief appearance to set up a second installment of the program.

Here’s the video, and then a transcript of the show.

 

[UPDATE: After a request from attorneys representing Seven News, we have removed the embed links to the leaked ‘Scientology Black Ops’ episodes. See our reasons why in this story.]

 
Bryan Seymour: Heading to Sydney Airport to jump on a plane to go to the United States to do another story on Scientology. I never imagined I’d be doing stories on this group 13 years after the first one. But then I never imagined what I’d discover about this group, and just the lives they’ve destroyed. And that they’re still destroying today — that’s why I’m doing this. Someone said to me, when are you going to stop obsessing or doing stories on Scientology and I said, ‘You know what? I’ll stop when they stop abusing people.’ I hope this is, if not the last story I do on them, the one that triggers the end of this group.

[Intro graphics. Tom Cruise can be heard at the 2004 IAS event saying, ‘I think you know that I am there for you. So what do you say, are we going to clean this place up?’]

Episode title: ‘Leaving’

 
Paul Haggis: I’m Paul Haggis. I’m a writer-director. I was in the Church of Scientology for over 30 years. I wanted to be a filmmaker. I had no chance of becoming one. So I was writing and directing really bad plays, locally. Around the same time, someone told me, a friend, said, yeah there’s this cult in New York, they said. And if you give them all your money, they will make anything possible in your life. And I went, ‘Take me there.’ And I said, I’m in love with this woman and we can’t seem to get along. And they said, we can help you with that. I said, really? Yes. And so I ran home and got her, brought her back, and we started a course, the Communication Course, for fifty dollars each. And, it worked. It was great. We got along better, I ended up marrying her. It was terrific. So, that’s how they get you in. It works, you know? At least in the beginnings.

Seymour: Haggis worked on ‘Scooby Doo’ cartoons, sold a TV pilot to Canadian television, and eventually worked on hit shows like ‘The Facts of Life’ and ‘Due South.’ As the new milennium arrived his film career took off. He wrote ‘Million Dollar Baby,’ which won Oscars for Best Picture, director Clint Eastwood, and best actor nods for Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman.

Jack Nicholson: And the Oscar goes to… ‘Crash.’

 
Seymour: Then he reached the pinnacle. Awarded Oscars for best film and best screenplay for his movie examining racism, ‘Crash.’ [To Haggis] Was that like a boyhood dream?

Haggis: Well I think any kid who wants to be in films, you know, thinks they’d like to get an Oscar, but it was really, it was beyond my dream. I just really wanted to make movies.

 
Seymour: Haggis won a new legion of fans in 2006 when he took on the task of script doctor for the reboot of cinema’s most famous hero, James Bond, in ‘Casino Royale.’ He also wrote the next Bond film, ‘Quantum of Solace,’ and a host of others, including ‘Flags of Our Fathers’ and the Russell Crowe feature, ‘The Next Three Days,’ which he also directed.

Haggis: [At Writers Guild Awards] I am so grateful for this and thankful for your support, thank you very much.

Seymour: While his professional life was on the march, Haggis was falling out of step with Scientology. He was working then for Tom Cruise, writing for his production company.

Haggis: I was developing ‘The Ranger’s Apprentice,’ which I thought was good, and I really liked Tom, I thought he was a really wonderful actor. Still do. And so we met, and he seemed to be interested in playing the lead in it. And how do I turn down Tom Cruise? He’s my boss. He’s a movie star. And I think he’s great for the role. Except the movie is set in medieval England and I went, Tom Cruise is an icon. He puts on an accent, I’ll bet he can do it really well, I bet he can do a great English accent. He does, and people are going to go, why is Tom Cruise talking so funny? So I’m not going to offer it to him because I think it’s a mistake for his career and a mistake for the film. So, that was the beginning of the end, I think. And then, right about that time, was when I started asking serious questions. That’s when Prop 8 was in California…

Seymour: Proposition 8 opposed same-sex marriage in California. Scientology supported the homophobic law, so Haggis complained to the public face of Scientology, Tommy Davis.

 
Haggis: And he went, well we do support gay rights. I said Tommy, come on. You know our history. You know it’s just not true.

Seymour: At the same time, he was learning about the terrible abuse, including physical assaults dealt out by Scientology’s leader David Miscavige. In 2009 he shocked the church, Hollywood, and the world by announcing that after more than three decades, he was leaving Scientology. Having reached the status of Operating Thetan Level Seven, then the highest rank*, and having spent hundreds of thousands of dollars. Paul Haggis left Scientology after 35 years, in part to support two of his daughters, who are gay.

 
Lauren Haggis: I’m Lauren Haggis. I’m an artist, and I was a Scientologist for 23 years.

Alissa Haggis: I’m Alissa Haggis. I’m a writer, and I was a Scientologist for 19 years.

Seymour: Your dad championed you and your sister when you left Scientology very publicly. How did that make you feel?

Alissa: Afraid? And amazing at the same time.

Seymour: How proud of your father were you at that time?

Alissa: Of course very proud. But he’s always been the person who wants to do the right thing, and despite the cost. You know, he’s always the one to go out and do the right thing, no matter how stupid it may be. And ends up, most of the time it’s been a brilliant success.

 
Seymour: Bizarrely, since leaving, Scientology now claims Paul Haggis was never a member of the church, despite being a cover boy for its internal publications. Two years passed before Paul Haggis spoke to the New Yorker magazine in 2011 about his time in Scientology. Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Lawrence Wright detailed his criticisms of the group’s practices, including brainwashing, child labor, physical abuse, and bigotry. The article ended with this exchange between Wright and Haggis. “I once asked Haggis about the future of his relationship with Scientology. ‘These people have long memories,’ he told me. ‘My bet is that, within two years, you’re going to read something about me in a scandal that looks like it has nothing to do with the church’.”

Haggis: Once you get on the enemies list, they stressed, you never get off. Ever. It’ll be for the rest of your life.

 
Title card: AHEAD

Leah Remini: This is a three-billion-dollar, dangerous, money-making cult. When somebody leaves Scientology, they are to be Scientology ‘Fair Gamed.’ Find what the person seeks to protect, and go after it.

 
[*Since the summer of 1988, the highest auditing level available to Scientology members is OT 8. Just to be clear, we think what Seymour means here is that when Haggis completed OT 7 it was then the highest level, not that it was the highest level when Haggis left Scientology in 2009.]

 
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Source Code

“Let’s return to the earliest moment that we can contact on the sperm sequence. The earliest moment. The earliest moment you can contact there. The first phrase that you get there will flash into your mind when I count from one to five. One-two-three-four-five. You are doing just fine, by the way. What was the phrase you got? No phrase? All right. Is there somebody there who says ‘Shut up’ or ‘hush’ or something? All right. Let’s shift over on the ovum sequence. Let’s contact the first phrase we get in the ovum sequence, the first phrase. When I count from one to five, it will flash into your mind. One-two-three-four-five. All right. Let’s contact now the earliest moment of pain or unconsciousness that you can reach, either sperm, ovum, preconception, wherever it is, the earliest phrase that we can reach. When I count from one to five, it will flash into your mind. One-twothree-four-five.” — L. Ron Hubbard, August 31, 1950

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“Clearing this planet is going to take thousands of years and many lifetimes. There is no instant solution involving paying tens of thousands of dollars for ridiculously overpriced auditing from an egotistical self-styled guru or an organization composed of slave cultists. Anyone who really wants to make it will wade their way through the thousands of hours of study needed to understand the tech.”

 
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Random Howdy

“The reason I started watching Game of Thrones is because I thought it was going to be the Deadwood of medieval shows and show how dirty and brutal the times actually were like Deadwood did and there wouldn’t be a whole lot of Lord of the Rings type shit. Which aside from the white walkers and the dragons there really wasn’t. But I’m starting to notice more plausibility gaps and irrational character motivation.”

 
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Arraignment scheduled for September 18.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay’s sentencing is set for August 27 in White Plains, NY, but attorneys are asking it be moved back. Jeffrey’s is set for October 24.
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Next pretrial conference set for Jan 12 in Los Angeles
— Dennis Nobbe, Medicare fraud, PPP loan fraud: Charged July 29

Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Oral arguments were heard on July 30 at the Eleventh Circuit
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Motion for reconsideration denied on August 11
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Sept 4 (CSI/RTC demurrer against Riales, Masterson demurrer), Oct 7-19 (motions to compel arbitration)
— Jane Doe v. Scientology (in Miami): Jane Doe dismissed the lawsuit on May 15 after the Clearwater Police dropped their criminal investigation of her allegations.
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach bankruptcy appeal: Oral arguments were heard on March 11 in Jacksonville
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Amended complaint filed, trial set for Nov 9, 2021. Plaintiffs granted permission to file changes to amended complaint by Sept 4.

 
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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] Scientology ecstasy: ‘I have no idea where I would be right now without NED’
[TWO years ago] Sheriff’s Office report spells out tragic details of Scientology ‘Clear’ who took her own life
[THREE years ago] As Leah Remini’s second season hammers away, Scientology is losing its mind
[FOUR years ago] Vance Woodward’s appeal fails as Scientology has the L.A. attorney on the hook for $90,000
[FIVE years ago] Home, sweet ‘Freewinds’! We get a rare look inside a Scientology promotional seminar
[SIX years ago] Sunday Funnies: Oops, Scientology reveals a key fact about the size of its membership
[SEVEN years ago] The History of Scientology’s Weird Vaults — The Bizarre Battlefield Earth Connection!
[EIGHT years ago] The Secret to Eternal Youth! Now Available on the Cruise Ship Freewinds!
[NINE years ago] The Top 25 People Crippling Scientology, No. 14: Tory Christman

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on August 31, 2020 at 07:00

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