| 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]

Read the ‘disconnection letter’ from a brother telling his sis — Sylvia DeWall — so long forever

[Sylvia and Tim DeWall]

Yesterday, Sylvia DeWall made her declaration to friends and family who had turned their backs on her. Today, we’re following up with even more about her journey out of […]

Scientology ‘disconnection’ and the incalculable damage it does to children

This photo shows the day my mom disconnected from me. […]

Scientology’s homophobia and its disconnection policy — still producing refugees today

[Justin Rybacki]

One of the questions we’ve run into numerous times since Leah Remini’s series began airing come from people not very familiar with Scientology who ask why it is that the people who appear on the show all seem so prosperous and living in lavish […]

When Scientology’s toxic policy of disconnection is forever: Saying goodbye to Angela Paris

[Valeska and Angela Paris]

Valeska Paris recently posted a crushing note on Facebook about her stepmother, Angela. We asked her if she wanted to write a more lengthy piece for the Bunker, and we’re very glad that we […]

Living with Scientology ‘disconnection’: ‘It’s important to never give up hope’

[Renata and Flavio]

Last week, we asked the people on our “Scientology disconnection, a reminder” list — which appears at the end of each story here at the Bunker — about how they are coping with the church keeping them from their loved ones. The result was an emotional outpouring from the people on the list […]

Scientology’s toxic policy of ‘disconnection’ — we check in with the people who endure it

[Bernie Headley and his son Marc, and Marc’s sister Stephanie]

More than a year ago, in January 2017, we wrote a story about Bernie Headley that got us pretty worked up. Here was a man who was fighting cancer and was being prevented from seeing his own daughter, Stephanie, by the Church of […]

Scientology relies heavily on Russian immigrants — and ‘disconnection’ doesn’t spare them

[Katrina Reyes and her mother Yelena, in their Sea Org whites]

We first heard from Katrina Reyes some nine years ago, when Jason Beghe encouraged her to talk to us for a story at the Village Voice. For various reasons, Katrina wasn’t ready yet to tell her […]

Scientology’s original case of ‘disconnection’ — L. Ron Hubbard and his doting mom and dad

We’re so glad to kick off 2018 with a new piece from historian Chris Owen. We think you’re really going to enjoy his look at L. Ron Hubbard’s family […]

Derek Bloch on fighting Scientology ‘disconnection’ in an unaired TV series

[Derek Bloch at HowdyCon in Denver with Cathy Schenkelberg and Willie Jones]

We first wrote about Derek Bloch at the Village Voice in 2012, and he’s been a pretty constant presence here since then. You probably know his story — that he was kicked out of the Sea Org for being gay, and then his family […]

Five years ago: Scientology’s ‘disconnection’ and the death of Alexander Jentzsch

[Alexander Jentzsch, age 7]

We have pointed out numerous times that the first week of July in 2012 was perhaps the most eventful in our 22 years of reporting on Scientology. So much was happening that week as the media scrambled to cover the fallout over Katie Holmes splitting from Tom Cruise at the end of […]

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