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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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 []

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Valerie Haney: Scientology changed the rules after I nominated Elisabeth Moss, Tom Cruise

[How did Valerie nominating Tom violate Scientology’s rules?]

[See our report from the court hearing here. Judge Killefer has decided to give Valerie one more chance to submit a ‘reasonable’ nomination.]

Today, Valerie Haney and the Church of Scientology will once again be sparring in a Los Angeles courtroom over something the court is supposed to have []

We asked a film critic: What are the odds Tom Cruise gets a statue at the Oscars this year?

 Last May we commissioned our old friend Luke Y. Thompson (AV Club) to review Top Gun: Maverick for the Underground Bunker, and we still think it’s the best written about that movie. This time, we asked him what the odds are that Scientology watchers will have to witness Tom Cruise taking home an Oscar now []

Why the Golden Globes is joking about Tom Cruise, Shelly Miscavige, and Scientology

[Jerrod Carmichael made a funny]

 Thank you to everyone who messaged or tweeted us last night about host Jerrod Carmichael’s joke about Tom Cruise, Shelly Miscavige, and Scientology on the Golden Globes []

Scientology scolds Valerie Haney for nominating Tom Cruise to be an arbitrator

[Valerie Haney and Tom Cruise]

In August Valerie Haney told the Church of Scientology that if she could not have Elisabeth Moss as an arbitrator in her dispute with the church, then she was nominating Tom Cruise, with Shelly Miscavige as a []

Valerie Haney names Tom Cruise for arbitrator (and Shelly Miscavige if Tom is busy)

[Valerie Haney and Tom Cruise]

Scientology’s “International Justice Chief,” a Sea Org official named Mike Ellis, informed Valerie Haney last week that her choice of arbitrator, actress Elisabeth Moss, has declined to serve. So now, Valerie has mailed in her new []

VIDEO: Katie Holmes in the front row at a 2007 Scientology event with Tom Cruise

 A sharp new copy of a Scientology video from 2007 has been dropped on the Internet, and wow, is it making us feel []

Tom Cruise benefiting from Scientology Sea Org slave labor: The photographic proof

 Talking to a source about some Sea Org matters recently, we happened to notice that one of our most important stories about the Sea Org at the Village Voice is now missing a set of very important photos. So, as we have done with some other older stories at the Voice that have lost media, []

Podcast: Claire Headley on the questions Tom Cruise never gets asked

 This week, Tom Cruise reached a new milestone as his movie Top Gun: Maverick became his first ever billion-dollar box office smash. But amid all the hoopla, several people have dared to dampen the party by pointing out that Tom, besides being a movie star, is also the face and the symbol for a certain []

Tom Cruise’s hit movie couldn’t come at a better time for his Scientology best bud

 Your proprietor is big at the Daily Beast again today with a new story about everyone’s favorite Scientology topic: Tom []