| 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]

How Marc and Claire Headley’s Scientology lawsuit is being used by the NXIVM defense

[Marc and Claire Headley, Keith Raniere and Allison Mack]

In November, Smallville actress Allison Mack’s attorneys filed a motion to dismiss some of the charges that she’s facing in a federal criminal prosecution of allegations that, as a top lieutenant in Keith Raniere’s bizarre cabal known as NXIVM, she coerced other women to be his sex […]

Best Scientology shoops in the Bunker this year, and let’s see your faves too

Like last year, as part of our annual year in review, we asked Observer, our resident imagemaker (and designer of our new book cover, Battlefield Scientology) to pick out five of her favorite manipulated photos — otherwise known as “shoops” — produced by Underground Bunker […]

Checking in on a Scientology ‘ideal’ Christmas as we continue our year in review

Before we continue our year in review today, we have a holiday treat for you from reader Graham, who makes a return trip to the Birmingham Ideal Org after he so sneakily brought us a report from its grand opening last year. We’re always curious to see how little activity there is at these facilities […]

The Underground Bunker’s 2018 Scientology year-in-review starts today!

[If anyone symbolizes the best of 2018…]

It’s been another crazy year of news here at the Underground Bunker, and a decidedly mixed one. But when we thought about a single story that symbolized the year as strongly as Leah Remini’s show did for 2017, one really great, optimistic, sensational piece of good news from the […]

Scientology reveals it has a secret donor with an NFL connection giving millions

[Scientology barnstormer Michael Chan]

We want to thank our reader in Greece who alerted us to a pretty amazing situation. An entire 2-hour Michael Chan talk given to Scientologists in Athens had been posted to YouTube, and if we hurried we could get a look at it before Chan pulled it down (which Chan said would […]

Tonight, Leah Remini examines her own role in the bizarre Scientology – Nation of Islam dance

[Minister Louis Farrakhan and the woman whose name he can’t recall correctly]

In 2010, Louis Farrakhan formally made the call for his followers in the Nation of Islam to embrace Dianetics. A year later, at the Village Voice, we remarked for the first time on what a bizarre idea it was — that two small but […]

Scientology is known for its use of spies — and tonight, you’ll hear from one

[Cierra Westerman]

In one of our favorite moments from tonight’s episode of Scientology and the Aftermath, Leah Remini admits to an emotion she hasn’t felt before as she and Mike are on their way to another of their stunning interviews with a Scientology whistleblower. […]

When the person who certified Scientology ‘Clears’ discovered that there were no Clears

[Sunny and a Clear]

We have a very special item for you today, one of Sunny Pereira’s best pieces yet. There were few people in a better position to raise these questions about one of Scientology’s central mysteries — the […]

Lori Hodgson’s fight with Scientology for her kids is now a book you can pre-order

Scientology’s ‘disconnection’ policy is an abomination. It’s a form of political extortion, pitting family member against family member in order to further Scientology’s tight control of its followers’ lives.

Every disconnection story is heartbreaking, but Lori Hodgson’s saga is particularly cruel and […]

Scientology set to turn Silicon Valley ‘Ideal!’ Here’s our first look from the grand opening

[Silicon Valley, Dave is in you]

Here we were, waiting for the Salt Lake City “Ideal Org” to open up any day now (UPDATE: It’s happening today!), and David Miscavige tries to sneak one past us! After years of intense fundraising, the “Silicon Valley” Ideal Org in Mountain View, California is ready for its grand opening, […]

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