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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Scientology Sunday Funnies: The Nancy Cartwright freak-out edition

Watch out! Nancy Cartwright is having some kind of naval restim and she’s reaching for your wallet!

Yes, it’s time for another wacky collection of Scientology’s latest mailers and fliers as the church tries desperately to find a new strategy to get members to actually come to events and open up a few more credit cards []

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Scientology’s secret plan to take over the world — here it is!

Scientology has a plan to take over the world — would you be surprised to learn that it involves you sending them a lot of money?

We have another video that Scientology only intended its own members to see. It’s the latest appeal to members to send in cash so books can be sent to libraries []

Here’s a reminder of Scientology’s Cold War origins — L. Ron Hubbard on radiation!

We have another video that you normally can only see inside a Scientology “org.” It’s another “quote video” that the church uses to convince members to purchase L. Ron Hubbard’s lectures.

In this case, we have quite a doozy. It’s a clip from Hubbard’s December 1956 “Washington Congress on Anti-Radiation & Confront,” a set of lectures []

Scientology has a new recruitment video to get you to sign up for a billion years!

We have another video for you that wasn’t supposed to be seen outside the Church of Scientology. This one is a recruitment pitch for young Scientologists to join the Sea Organization — the church’s hardcore elite, who sign billion-year contracts and work 110-hour weeks for pennies an hour, with never a day off or a []

Mike Rinder takes on Scientology’s uneven ‘Disconnection’ rules

Jasja Barendsen

Former Scientology spokesman Mike Rinder has a disturbing story at his blog today that helps illustrate just how upside down Scientology’s system of “ethics” is.

In order to maintain control, Scientology encourages its members to snitch on each other, even asking children to turn in their parents if they express any doubts about []

UP THE BRIDGE: We finally reach ‘OT 8’ — but was its first version really a hoax?

George White on the Freewinds to do OT 8 in July 1988

More than a year ago, we started a project — ‘Up the Bridge’ — which we thought would be very useful for our readers, particularly those who had never been members of Scientology. With the help of experts — Claire Headley, Bruce Hines, and []

Marc Headley continues his Scientology tour, and Steve Hall describes his defection

Grand opening of the Las Vegas Ideal Org in 2010

I’m in Las Vegas for a convention, so after the event closed for the day I met up with a friend and he said that the new Scientology Ideal Org was a short trip through the slummier part of Las Vegas. Maybe I could go over []

Sunday Funnies: The desperation in Scientology fliers is getting worse. Much worse.

It’s that time of the week again, when we share with you some of the great Scientology mailers and fliers that were forwarded to us by our worldwide tipsters.

You’ll find some of our comments a bit less cheery this week. We can’t help it. These Scientology fliers are getting so desperate, it’s really becoming []

Ryan Hamilton files lawsuit 14 against Scientology’s drug rehab, and other updates

Our legal helpers have been working overtime as it gets tougher and tougher to keep an eye on everything going on in Scientology litigation around the country.

Las Vegas attorney Ryan Hamilton keeps plowing away, and has filed yet another federal fraud lawsuit against Scientology’s drug rehab network, []

Paul Haggis tells us his favorite Scientology stories of 2014

In New York this week, Tony Ortega asked me what my favorite coverage of Scientology was so far this year. Frankly, it’s all his. Tony is relentless, dogged and brave — all that one could hope for in an investigative reporter. Here are some of my favorite pieces of his so far this year. I []