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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David Miscavige is 64 today, and what a gift Scientology cooked up for him!

TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Over the years, on Scientology leader David Miscavige’s birthday, we have sought input from people who worked for him. But this year, as Miscavige reaches 64, we really couldn’t do better than a tribute []

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Common questions we get about Scientology’s court martial it calls ‘arbitration’

[Valerie Haney and Valeska Paris, both forced into ‘arbitration’]

TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: We’re still fuming after learning details about what Valerie Haney has been put through by Scientology in what it calls ‘arbitration.’ We thought we’d try to []

Val Ross: From Scientology spy to extreme drug withdrawal guinea pig

TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Valerie Ross continues her deeply personal series about her Scientology past, from spying on the FBI to, this time, serving as a test subject for L. Ron Hubbard’s quack ideas about drug detoxification. [What []

Writers of the Future: Scientology sci-fi front puts on interminable awards show once again

TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: For years, we’ve reported on the Writers of the Future contest and how it’s a front for Scientology that has direct ties with some of the church’s abuses. But hey, they had an awards []

Valerie Haney describes 2 more days of Scientology ‘arbitration’ torment

TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Valerie Haney updates us on how her L. Ron Hubbard-inspired court martial is going, which Scientology is calling an ‘arbitration.’ We have details from two more days of accusations and recriminations that she has []

Trophy life: A rare look inside the family of a wealthy Scientology ‘whale’

[Liz and Dave, up to Platinum Meritorious With Honors, $3.75 million]

TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: For years we’ve watched Scientology’s richest members accept large trophies for the millions they give the IAS, and often we wonder, who are these []

Why doesn’t Scientology want you to see its wealthy donors, including Grant Cardone?

[Grant Cardone and the case of the missing donor trophies]

TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Scientology is squawking again, demanding we take down images from its magazines with news value, including some that reveal the identities of its wealthy donors. []

Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s ill-fated 1932 pirate cruise, in news clippings

TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: We had so much fun recreating Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s nightmare year of 1951 in newspaper clippings, we’re doing the same for another of his ignominious adventures which occurred even earlier! [What is []

Val Ross: Midnight terror in the career of a Scientology spy

[Natalie Cole was a top target for Val’s Scientology recruitment efforts]

TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Val Ross continues her incredible series about serving as a Scientology spy in the 1970s, even infiltrating the FBI before and after the infamous []

Jane Doe, like Leah Remini, asks for judge in Danny Masterson lawsuit after Miscavige stunt

TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Scientology’s David Miscavige had two judges removed with some clever lawyering, but Leah Remini and Jane Doe 1 are fighting back. Both of them, now, are asking for the judge who denied Scientology’s attack []