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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LEAH REMINI AND TOMMY DAVIS WILL BE DEPOSED IN SCIENTOLOGY LAWSUIT

Leah Remini and Tommy Davis will give depositions in Monique Rathbun’s harassment lawsuit against the Church of Scientology after Monique’s attorney, Ray Jeffrey, successfully convinced Comal County Judge Dib Waldrip this afternoon to allow their testimony.

Jeffrey had subpoenaed Tommy Davis more than a week ago, and had also announced his intention to depose Remini in []

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U.S. SUPREME COURT DENIES SCIENTOLOGY IN FORCED-ABORTION LAWSUIT

The U.S. Supreme Court has denied the Church of Scientology’s final appeal that would have kept Laura DeCrescenzo (pictured at right) from using evidence from her employment files in her lawsuit against the church that alleges disturbing abuse, including forcing her to have an abortion at 17.

Scientology had wanted the Supreme Court to review the []

WORLD PREMIERE: The Shrinking Cult of Scientology, A Video By Tiziano Lugli

The Underground Bunker is privileged to debut a new video by Los Angeles music producer and ex-Scientologist Tiziano Lugli. We’ve shown some of his previous efforts that feature ex-church members talking about Scientology. But none of them have quite had the impact of this four-minute film.

We expect that regular readers of this website will recognize []

LIVE FROM TAMPA: The Garcia v. Scientology Federal Fraud Lawsuit Mini-Trial!

Greetings from Tampa, Florida, where we’re on the scene for an unusual and potentially very entertaining evidentiary hearing in a fraud lawsuit that’s been derailed by accusations of unethical conduct.

We’re anticipating that it will be a fairly grueling day for former Scientologist Brian Culkin as he’s probably going to be something of a hostile witness []

LEAH REMINI AGREES TO TESTIFY IN SCIENTOLOGY HARASSMENT LAWSUIT

Leah Remini and dancer Tony Dovolani on Dancing With the Stars

The Underground Bunker has learned that King of Queens actress Leah Remini has agreed to give a deposition in Monique Rathbun’s harassment lawsuit against the Church of Scientology. The deposition will take place in Los Angeles on October 15, we were able to []

RAY JEFFREY 1, SCIENTOLOGY 0: Disqualify Motion Denied in Harassment Lawsuit

Ray Jeffrey

Comal County Judge Dib Waldrip has denied the Church of Scientology’s motion to disqualify Ray Jeffrey, Marc Wiegand, and Elliott Cappuccio, the legal team representing Monique Rathbun in her harassment lawsuit against the church and its leader, David Miscavige.

We expect to get a copy of the order itself a little later this []

Meet the New Editor of Scientology’s Propaganda Magazine, Freedom!

 Hey, everyone, the Church of Scientology went and hired a kickass journalist to be the new editor of its humorous house organ, Freedom magazine!

It’s John Sugg, a name that’s pretty well known in the part of Florida where Scientology has one of its headquarters. It’s an exciting choice, as we’ll []

Why Scientology Postponed The Super Power Event: Our Archeological Dig For Answers

Since the Tampa Bay Times broke the news Wednesday afternoon that Scientology had postponed indefinitely the October 6 grand opening of its “Super Power Building,” we’ve been digging for answers to why that decision was made, and what it might mean.

Formally known as the “Flag Building,” the massive edifice in Clearwater, Florida has been in []

FEAR: Jon Atack on Scientology’s Essential Ingredient

Jon Atack is the author of A Piece of Blue Sky, one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. He has a new edition of the book for sale, and on Saturdays he’s helping us sift through the legends, myths, and contested facts about Scientology that tend to get hashed and []

JENNA HILL RESPONDS TO BARBARA WALTERS ON SCIENTOLOGY EDUCATION

On Tuesday, Barbara Walters once again came to the rescue for Scientology, this time sticking up for the church’s “educational programs” on The View.

Whoopi Goldberg started the discussion by bringing up Jaden Smith’s infamous tweet, in which the 15-year-old actor encouraged kids to drop out of school. Jenny McCarthy then brought up Scientology, which the []