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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Chris Owen and Jon Atack remember Jane Kember, Scientology’s ultimate spymaster

 On Friday, we reported on the death of Scientology’s former “Guardian,” Jane Kember, at 85. We had learned about her passing the day before, and scrambled to put together a basic outline of what an important figure she is in Scientology. Since then, we’ve heard from two of the very best researchers and historians of []

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Clearwater CEO Joy Gendusa recorded sychophantic video for Scientology’s leader

 What a week it’s been for PostcardMania CEO Joy Gendusa.

On Tuesday, with Hurricane Ian barreling toward Florida’s west coast, labor journalist Jonah Furman published statements by Gendusa that the Clearwater mail-order business would work through the storm, and that she expected employees not only to be at their desks but also to bring their kids []

Freezone news: LRH 2.0 indicted by grand jury, new center opens in Buenos Aires

[Would you buy a (new and improved) Bridge from this man?]

When we got an Anderson County, Tennessee law enforcement official on the phone last November to tell him we were inquiring about someone in his jail, we explained that although the inmate appeared as “Lafayette Ronald Hubbard” in his records, we also knew the prisoner []

Is Scientology key to solving a young woman’s disappearance? Police want to know.

[Yolanda Klug]

What a treat it was this week to speak with Ursula Caberta, someone we haven’t heard from in several years. Longtime readers will remember that Ursula was a political figure in Germany who spearheaded a state-sponsored effort to expose Scientology abuses in that []

While the planet melts: What Scientology predicted about climate change

 The dog days are really on us now. Some serious heat enveloped New York yesterday, and we know that some of our readers are in places that are going through unprecedented heat waves. Scotland, for example, had its hottest day in recorded history on []

Scientology: Valerie Haney has no choice but to submit to the church’s authority

 On Thursday, we told you that Valerie Haney’s attorneys submitted a 5-page declaration to prepare the new judge in her case for this Friday’s hearing. At that hearing, both sides will be explaining to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gail Killefer why, more than two years after her predecessor Judge Richard Burdge forced Valerie’s lawsuit []

Scientology is bursting with news about its aging cruise ship, which is totally not sinking

 On Monday, after we’d wondered about Joy Villa’s lowly schlepping of Scientology at a seaside vendor’s table in England, we posted Joy’s own ringing endorsement of the gig. She said that she was having a whale of a time selling copies of Dianetics to the punters, and who are we to say otherwise, []

Recent controversies & financial crimes of Scientology: Katherine Olson interview, Part 2

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Attorney to CA Supremes: Here’s how you can make history in Danny Masterson’s rape case

[Philip Cohen and his client, Danny Masterson]

On Friday, Danny Masterson’s attorney Philip Cohen submitted a reply to the District Attorney’s argument that the That ’70s Show actor and Scientology celebrity should not be granted review by the California state supreme court in his rape case. We have that document for you to look []

1950 US Census proves Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard did indeed have a second wife

[L. Ron Hubbard and his second wife, and poof!]

Hey, this was a nice catch we noticed yesterday at Facebook, and so we went to the recently released 1950 US Census records to verify it for []