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

REPORT: Scientology loses captain of its Florida ‘spiritual mecca,’ a fundraising marvel

A couple of our best sources reached out to us this week to let us know they’ve heard something interesting that is coming out of Scientology’s “spiritual mecca,” the Flag Land Base in Clearwater, []

ADVERTISEMENT

Simi Valley: Not the town, but one of the Underground Bunker’s most loyal helpers

[Simi Valley, and Simi Valley]

To start out the new year of 2013, we posted one of our favorite stories of all time that morning of January 1: Simi Valley, a woman who had legally changed her name to match that Southern California town, was now not only out of the Church of Scientology, but she []

Richard Belzer, and that time he got us in to see Tom Cruise roast Matt Lauer

[Belzer, center, with Jeff Ross, left, and Jim Carrey honoring Jerry Lewis on his 90th at the Friar’s Club in 2016]

 We were very sad to hear about Richard Belzer’s passing. It was reported that he died in France this week at the age of 78 after some years there dealing with illness.

His last words were []

Jerry Whitfield, longtime Scientology exit counselor, dies at 77

[Hana and Jerry Whitfield]

 We spoke to Hana Whitfield last night, who was still in Miami, where her husband Jerry had died Sunday night after a lengthy illness. She was understandably feeling overwhelmed by everything she and Jerry have been going through, and she plans to return to her Coral Gables home for some rest. But []

Paul Morantz is remembered for Synanon rattler, but he also faced Scientology’s fangs

 On Friday, the Los Angeles Times had a very good piece about attorney Paul Morantz, who died in Santa Monica last Sunday at []

Melissa McPhail: A fantasy writer’s travel through time to her Scientology Sea Org past

[Melissa McPhail]

Friday, April 15, 2022. Chariot, a film described as a “science fiction dark comedy” debuts in theaters. It stars John Malkovich, Thomas Mann, and Rosa Salazar. It is written and directed by Scientologist Adam Sigal, who told the Tampa Bay Times that he had fallen into filmmaking when he was working as a private []

Hanan Islam, 62: Faced felony counts for insurance scam run out of Scientology clinic

[Hanan Islam and her son Rizza]

A memorial service for Hanan Islam has been scheduled for Saturday to take place at the gymnasium at Compton College in Southern California. Her son, Ronnie “Rizza” Islam, announced on his Instagram account on Sunday that his mother died after a ten-year battle with colon cancer. She was []

Ginger Sugerman: Her way out of Scientology was marred by trauma

 We were surprised and saddened to learn yesterday that Ginger Sugerman died in Georgia of a heart attack in early February. She was 62. []

Clark Carr, 75, who gave up comedy dreams to become Scientology’s drug rehab mouthpiece

 According to his longtime comedy partner Tom Solari, Scientology’s former Narconon International president Clark Carr has died after a yearlong bout with cancer. He was []

Ned McCrink, 1954-2022: The OC Ideal Org’s biggest donor sailed away from Scientology

 We were stunned and saddened to learn that Ned McCrink, formerly Orange County, California’s top Scientology donor, ended his life on Monday morning. He was []