Tony Ortega is a journalist who was formerly the editor of The Village Voice. He's written about Scientology since 1995, and in May 2015 released a book about Scientology's harassment of Paulette Cooper titled 'The Unbreakable Miss Lovely.' He continues to monitor breaking developments in the Scientology world from an undisclosed location in an underground bunker he shares with four cats and one of them wrinkly Shar Pei dogs. Despite his super-secret security protections, you can still reach him pretty easily by sending him a message at tonyo94 AT gmail.com (Drop him a line if you'd like to get an e-mail whenever a new story is posted.) [Header image courtesy John Rickard]
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David Miscavige gets ribbon-happy in Florida: It’s the Scientology social media review!

It’s time again for Rod Keller’s Scientology Social Media Review. He’s made a specialty of hunting down the odd and wonderful things Scientologists post to the ‘net. He’s a chronicler who piece by piece builds a highly detailed assessment of what Scientology is doing around the world, and this is what he found for us []

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Megan Shields, the physician Scientology used to vouch for its drug rehabs, dies of cancer

[Megan Shields and her husband, George Duggan]

We learned last night that Dr. Megan Shields, a Glendale physician and OT 8 Scientologist who had been doctor to many Church of Scientology members in the Los Angeles area, died last week after a lengthy battle with cancer. She was []

Scientology stealth opening: Tomorrow, David Miscavige will dedicate two buildings in Florida

[The West Coast Building on Fort Harrison Ave. Photos by Mark Bunker.]

Scientology leader David Miscavige is getting more and more sneaky about his grand openings, and this time we caught him just in []

Forced-abortion lawsuit has a new judge as Scientology appeals ruling on religious grounds

[Laura DeCrescenzo in the Sea Org, circa 1996]

Laura DeCrescenzo’s seven-year forced abortion lawsuit against the Church of Scientology now has a new judge, and a new appeal submitted by the []

This is your brain on L. Ron Hubbard: Watergate, Scientology, and late-night radio

[Jim Dincalci says he took this photo of L. Ron Hubbard in Queens in 1973 — or did he?]

We thought we’d toss off a bonus post this evening to let you know about something happening late tonight. Alabama resident and former Church of Scientology member Randy McDonald, who was once the editor of Scientology’s Celebrity []

Sailing with L. Ron Hubbard: A Scientology saga of Sea Org dedication

 While Rod Keller was doing his usual rounds looking for Scientology’s footprint in social media this week, he ran across a flier that made him do a double take. And we’re glad he did, because he sent over this entertaining look at a slice of Scientology history we thought you’d want to []

CLEARWATER DONE DEAL — Couple seeks big crowd for Scientology ‘disconnection’ billboard

 After the readers of this website once again came through for former Scientologists Phil and Willie Jones, contributing several thousand dollars for another “Call Me” billboard to raise awareness of Scientology’s “disconnection” policy, the Las Vegas couple are announcing that they have signed a contract for a billboard in Clearwater, []

Nearly four years after Stacy Murphy’s death, Scientology files motion to kill much of lawsuit

 It’s been nearly four years since Stacy Dawn Murphy, 20, was found dead at Scientology’s flagship drug rehab center, Narconon Arrowhead, in Oklahoma. Two other patients at the clinic had died in just the previous nine months, but it was Stacy’s death that particularly shocked local and national media, leading to a new focus on []

Scientology is holding this Kazakh 20-year-old prisoner, says her media-grabbing mom

 We turn to the Underground Bunker’s Russian-language wing to help us with a story developing in Kazakhstan that has generated some excitement over at WhyWeProtest.net and elsewhere. And even with expert translation assistance, this story is a bit batty and we’d like to get it more completely sorted []

Scientology goes big with Barnes & Noble and with the Euro 2016 football tournament

 It’s time again for Rod Keller’s Scientology Social Media Review. He’s made a specialty of hunting down the odd and wonderful things Scientologists post to the ‘net. He’s a chronicler who piece by piece builds a highly detailed assessment of what Scientology is doing around the world, and this is what he found for us []