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]
FOLLOW ME ON
Daily Notifications
Sign up for free emails to receive the feature story every morning in your inbox at tonyortega.substack.com

Categories

Monthly Archives

Augustine: How Scientology makes it so hard to get your money back

[Scientologists learning the “havingness” of money by tossing it in the air]

Frequent contributor Jeffrey Augustine is back to help us with another look at Scientology’s policies and procedures. In this case, what it means to turn over money for future use, and what happens when you ask for it back. Help us figure it out, []

ADVERTISEMENT

The shocking space opera secret that is guiding Scientology litigation

 We know you’ve been looking for answers about some of the strange twists and turns affecting Scientology litigation lately. We’ve been pounding the pavement and ringing up our sources constantly, looking for answers. And now, we’ve hit []

Laura DeCrescenzo, on eve of crucial hearing, explains Scientology for new judge

[Judge John P. Doyle]

Laura DeCrescenzo’s legal team filed its latest brief in advance of a crucial hearing, and we have the document for you. Laura’s forced-abortion lawsuit against the Church of Scientology is almost seven years old now, and trial dates have been set a couple of times. But there’s a final hurdle that she []

Monique Rathbun is on the clock at the Texas Supreme Court, and more in our legal roundup

 A sharp-eyed observer pointed out to us that the Texas Supreme Court’s docket posted a countdown date for Monique Rathbun to file a response to the Church of Scientology’s petition in her harassment lawsuit. That date is set for March []

Scientology tried to suppress this video, and that’s why you’re seeing it here today

[Chrissie and Shane Weightman]

Former Sea Org worker Chris Shelton has been a regular contributor here at the Bunker and he’s made a name for himself with his video interviews of fellow former church members. Often, he premieres those videos here. But recently, he posted a “bonus” interview series at his YouTube channel, and now it’s []

How the indoctrination of growing up in Scientology has changed over generations

 Ahoy, mateys. Two bearded rogues in tropical Florida have netted a treasure haul for us land lubbers. As part of his series, “Growing Up in Scientology,” Aaron Smith-Levin sits down with former Scientology spokesman Mike Rinder for their latest take on what it was like to be children in the []

When Scientology was in trouble in 1955, L. Ron Hubbard told prosecutor he was a ‘psychologist’

[Hubbard in Phoenix, circa 1955]

One of Scientology’s early run-ins with the law resulted in a remarkable letter by L. Ron Hubbard that has previously never seen the light of day — in it, Hubbard claimed to be a psychologist, and proposed that a vast conspiracy had been aimed at his Phoenix, Arizona operation. It’s a []

Why Scientology’s petition to the Texas Supreme Court mentions a dildo, and other surprises

[El Cinco Supremo: Dave Lubow, Steve Sloat, Ed Bryan, Monty Drake, and CSI]

As our experts predicted, Scientology’s attorneys met their deadline yesterday and petitioned the Texas Supreme Court in an attempt to have an appellate decision reconsidered in Monique Rathbun’s harassment lawsuit against the church, even after the case has been put into some []

DOX: A former L. Ron Hubbard business partner dishes on Scientology to the feds

For more than a year now we’ve been bringing you previously unseen and often startling documents that our friend and researcher R.M. Seibert managed, with the help of the MuckRock website, to pry out of the hands of the Food and Drug Administration in a Freedom of Information Act request. []

David Miscavige wastes no time once the stay is lifted in Monique Rathbun’s lawsuit

 As we expected, as soon as the Texas Supreme Court temporarily lifted the stay in Monique Rathbun’s harassment lawsuit against the Church of Scientology, a motion was filed this week in Dib Waldrip’s Comal County court, and we have a copy of it for you. And sure enough, there was a surprise — the motion []