Tony Ortega | The Underground Bunker

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]

When will academics acknowledge that the Scientology ‘apostate’ theory is finished?

We’re deep into reporting several cool stories coming your way, so we just had time for a quick thought for you today. We noticed over at the forums that Scientology has put out, among its flood of recent press releases, an announcement about its newest pet […]

Science Fiction smackdown: L. Ron Hubbard, the pith helmet-wearing ‘pipsqueak Prometheus’

[Hubbard in pith helmet, Puerto Rico, 1932]

Yesterday, we had fun exhuming L. Ron Hubbard’s bad science fiction by looking at a telling 1940 short story, “One Was Stubborn.” In it, Hubbard’s main character, Old Shellback, reveals that the downfall of the United States would come as a result of nefarious religious cults protected by tax […]

Chuck Beatty is right: L. Ron Hubbard lofted culty cosmic ideas a decade before ‘Dianetics’

[Chuck Beatty]

We have finally done something that former Church of Scientology member Chuck Beatty has been asking us, or really anyone, to do for the longest time. Yes, Chuck, we have finally read L. Ron Hubbard’s 1940 short story, “One Was […]

Karen de la Carriere: Scientology is smearing me again, and this time is hitting below the belt

Just in time for Valentine’s Day we have a not so heartwarming story of Scientology Fair Game. You may be aware that BBC presenter Louis Theroux premiered a new film in London last October titled “My Scientology Movie.” We were there, and so was Karen de la Carriere, who happens to be a neighbor of […]

SCIENTOLOGY’S SPACE MAN: As of 2013, active Scientologists fewer than 20,000 worldwide

[Paul Burkhart and fellow Sea Org survivor Camilla Andersson at Mt. Rainier]

Yesterday, we began telling you about Paul Burkhart, the newest defector from Scientology’s international management to go public with what he experienced after joining the church in 1980, joining the Sea Org in 1985, and then leaving a little over two years ago, in […]

SCIENTOLOGY’S SPACE MAN: The newest defector from church management opens up

In 2009, Scientology’s fortunes took a major hit when several of its highest ranking former officials talked to the St. Petersburg (now Tampa Bay) Times for a blockbuster series titled “The Truth Rundown.” Led by Mark “Marty” Rathbun, who at one time ranked second only to Scientology leader David Miscavige himself, these former executives gave […]

The disgraced sheriff, the Holocaust survivor, and Scientology’s most unhinged front group

This may be one of the saddest photos we’ve ever posted here at the Underground Bunker. It shows the scene on January 31 at the Church of Scientology in Pasadena, California, and it was included in a press release put out by the church […]

On the 8th anniversary of the Anonymous protests, more signs of Scientology’s desperation

Eight years ago today, the Internet grew feet. We remember very well how surprising it was that Anonymous, which had vowed to bring down Scientology the month before over its attempt to censor a leaked Tom Cruise interview video, showed up in the form of young people wearing Guy Fawkes masks at Scientology orgs around […]

Scientology’s thug life, documented: Aaron Smith-Levin shares a record of Sea Org violence

[Aaron Smith-Levin in 2005]

We have a great slice of Scientology Sea Org life to share with you today, courtesy of Aaron Smith-Levin. We’ve been featuring Aaron in stories for some time, and in his videos he’s been telling you about what it was like to grow up in the […]

Yes, that was a Scientology ad you saw during the Super Bowl. Here’s what’s in it.

For the fourth year in a row, Scientology has aired one of its ads in some local markets during the Super Bowl. And, as usual, the ad has produced a lot of hilarity on Twitter as viewers around the country react in pretty much the same way: “Was that really a Scientology ad I just […]

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