Joy Villa recruiting for Scientology in Brighton: The photographer’s tale

In the last few days you might have seen a photograph of Joy Villa, purportedly at a Scientology table in Brighton, England. We were curious about it ourselves, and so we asked around and found the person who had snapped the image.

Continue reading Joy Villa recruiting for Scientology in Brighton: The photographer’s tale

Claim: Scientology is lying about who visited the most destruction on psychiatry in Russia

[Malchikova and her Freedom Medal, and Dorinskaya]

In 2011, the Church of Scientology celebrated two of its members in Russia for destroying the psychiatric profession’s long stranglehold on the mental health field in that country.

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Scientology will turn your town’s eyesore into a gleaming cathedral when it feels like it

Recently I went through 20 or more of our old Toronto Scientology friends’ names and checked their Facebook pages to see what they were up to currently. It’s amazing how few mention Scientology at all on there. Paris Morphopolous of Clearwater One Stoppe Shoppe fame has a brother George who at least as of a few years ago was running Narconon Cambridge, Ontario, and had mentioned that on his Facebook page. Most of the rest of the Toronto public we knew were Scientology-absent in their messaging.

Continue reading Scientology will turn your town’s eyesore into a gleaming cathedral when it feels like it

Scientology under scrutiny? A stunning new document in the Danny Masterson case

[Danny and Dave]

Sometimes, we just have to ask the question and see where it takes us.

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The Scientology celebrity exodus from LA to Clearwater continues

[Michael Peña and Brie Shaffer]

A year ago, we noted that there was anecdotal evidence to back up an assertion we’ve been making for some time, that Scientology’s gravitational center has been moving from Los Angeles to Clearwater, Florida.

Continue reading The Scientology celebrity exodus from LA to Clearwater continues

The Insider speaks: Scientology’s recent crises, now in a podcast with Chris Shelton

Late last year, we got some eye-opening reports on how hard the pandemic has been on Scientology from someone inside the organization. We dubbed them The Insider, and they told us about chaos caused by Covid, new details on the ‘Chase Wave’ financial debacle, a detailed description of the Ideal Org scam, and even told us about the new ‘Golden Age of Admin’ that was on the way.

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What Scientology’s nutty ‘OT 3’ — the Xenu tale — taught one member about Sea Org slavery

[An artist’s conception of Xenu from HBO’s ‘Going Clear’]

Summer 1984, Advanced Org Los Angeles. Alone in the small study room, heart pounding, mind overflowing with anticipation, I flipped open the folder containing the auditing instructions for OT 3, the secret level of Scientology known as the “Wall of Fire.” Finally, finally, after sixteen years in Scientology, ten of which were spent toiling as a devoted Sea Org member, all was revealed. This was the ultimate reward for my service. Sadly, it did not come while I was actually in the Sea Org. I had been on an extended leave of absence since 1979, and now five years later I was paying for my OT levels as a public Scientologist.

Continue reading What Scientology’s nutty ‘OT 3’ — the Xenu tale — taught one member about Sea Org slavery

Le Monde & Vanity Fair: FBI probes Russian oligarch financing of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

[Yesterday’s breaking news: California supreme court denied Danny Masterson petition.]

On Sunday, just after our story about Tom Cruise and Scientology hit the home page of The Daily Beast, we received an email from a man named Andrew Eksner. He claimed that he was working with the FBI’s “Transnational Anti-Corruption Partnership with the headquarters at the U.S. Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria,” and that it was looking into something he figured we’d be interested in: Russian oligarch money funding several Tom Cruise movies, including the just-released Top Gun: Maverick.

Continue reading Le Monde & Vanity Fair: FBI probes Russian oligarch financing of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

CA Supreme Court denies Danny Masterson petition to review rape case motion

Just in: After soliciting briefs from both the prosecution and the defense, the California State Supreme Court has denied Danny Masterson’s petition to review a motion to dismiss his rape charges that was struck down in February.

Continue reading CA Supreme Court denies Danny Masterson petition to review rape case motion

Scientology co-opts ‘Top Gun’ success for its own fundraising needs

In perhaps the most predictable move ever, Scientology is jumping on the success of celebrity member Tom Cruise’s biggest ever box office opening weekend for one of its own fundraising campaigns.

Continue reading Scientology co-opts ‘Top Gun’ success for its own fundraising needs

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