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 Yesterday, France’s highest court laid down an historic decision, upholding a verdict that found the Church of Scientology’s Paris Celebrity Centre had fraudulently harmed people simply by applying Scientology’s normal processes.
It was the culmination of years of prosecutions, countered by the usual circus-like Scientology court shenanigans in appeals, but ultimately, France held fast. In that country, Scientology is not a religion, it’s a business that harms people. One more conviction, pointed out a member of the parliament, and Scientology could be dissolved utterly in France. Then, just a day later, a very different verdict a few hundred kilometers to the north in the country of the Netherlands, which granted tax-exempt status to Amsterdam’s Scientology “org.” News organizations here in the United States are treating both verdicts as if they were of equal import. (Meaning, they’re running short wire stories with no real details about either case.) But treating these two verdicts equally is a big mistake. Continue reading Day After French Defeat, Scientology Handed A Friendly Verdict From The Dutch
 Jefferson Hawkins was once the top marketing executive for the Church of Scientology and helped it reach its greatest extent with the famous “volcano” TV ads in the 1980s. He’s told his tale of getting into and out of the church with his excellent books Counterfeit Dreams and Leaving Scientology, and he’s helping us understand the upside-down world of Scientology “ethics.”
Jeff, we’re thrilled that you’ve offered to help us slog through L. Ron Hubbard’s book Introduction to Scientology Ethics. If there’s one subject we’d like to have a better understanding of, it’s the complex system of control that Hubbard invented. One of the things that non-Scientologists have trouble understanding is how Scientologists can talk so much about “ethics” and yet do things that a normal person would consider unethical — such as disconnection, the RPF, participating in shady business deals, and a host of other questionable actions. Do they have a different definition of “ethics” than the rest of us? Continue reading Starting Today: Jefferson Hawkins Helps Us Get Our Scientology Ethics In!
 Scientology doesn’t want Monique Rathbun to share information with her husband Marty The next phase of Monique Rathbun’s harassment lawsuit against Scientology leader David Miscavige will involve some blockbuster depositions from the likes of actress Leah Remini and former church spokesman Tommy Davis, but for now the two sides are stuck on a question of confidentiality. And surprisingly, Scientology is trying to make an argument it just lost in the same case. As we reported earlier, Judge Dib Waldrip moved the next hearing in the lawsuit to December 11, giving both sides more time to schedule depositions as they gather evidence to argue over jurisdictional issues. Miscavige has asked to be removed from the suit, saying that he has only a limited role in the church and has had nothing to do with activities in Texas. Monique’s side disagrees, and at the December 11 hearing, both sides will be presenting evidence that should make for another fascinating day in court. Continue reading Scientology Asks for Protection in Texas; ALSO: Lawrence Wright a Finalist for Nat’l Book Award
 Scientology in France — still a fraud Our man in Paris, British journalist Jonny Jacobsen, is on the scene and tells us that French media have just reported that Scientology’s fraud conviction has been upheld. Jonny’s been all over this case for years at his blog, Infinite Complacency, where he had recently put together a four part series of background leading up to this decision. (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4). He’s also kept a close watch on the prosecution of the church in Belgium, and was one of the first to report on violence at Scientology’s International Base in California. Continue reading SCIENTOLOGY’S FRAUD CONVICTION UPHELD BY FRANCE’S HIGHEST COURT
 With both of them working on the same television series, NBC’s Chicago Fire, we knew it was only a matter of time before two actors who are favorites of readers here at the Underground Bunker got together for a laugh.
We’ve been writing about Jason Beghe since 2008, when he made a very public exit from Scientology. Christian Stolte we got to know more recently when he defended Leah Remini on Twitter and skewered Scientologist celebrities like Kirstie Alley. In the series, Stolte plays a fire lieutenant, while Beghe plays a cop playing a very complex game of corruption-as-investigative-tool. (You have to watch the show, it’s really something.) Continue reading Chicago’s On Fire: Jason Beghe and Christian Stolte Send Their Regards to the Bunker
 If you didn’t catch last night’s Dancing With the Stars on ABC, you really missed something remarkable — interpretive dance on national prime time television!
And it was performed by King of Queens actress Leah Remini, who once again had a giant platform to talk about her experience of walking away from the Church of Scientology. The contestants were asked to describe their “most memorable year” and then make it the inspiration for a dance, and in Leah’s case, it was no surprise that she chose this past year. In fact, it was twelve months ago, in October 2012, when she met with Scientology leader David Miscavige — a rare honor, even for a top Scientology celebrity like Leah — but she reportedly came away more determined than ever to leave Scientology. She then spent several months preparing her family to leave with her, and by July, when we broke the news, she was out for good. Continue reading Help Us Decode Leah Remini’s Anti-Scientology Dance From Last Night’s Dancing With The Stars
Tonight’s episode of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars had a theme — contestants were asked to describe their most memorable year, and then turn that story into a dance, or something.
Anyway, during the week, Leah had revealed that this year was her most memorable, and we can imagine why — it’s been a big year for us, too, ever since we broke the news in July that Leah was ditching the Church of Scientology. “You can’t let anybody dictate to you how you should live,” Leah said in tonight’s preview, and so we prepared for another unloading on Tom Cruise’s weird church. Continue reading Leah Remini Takes Another [Muffled] Shot At Scientology On DWTS (AND SURVIVES!)
 Bert Leahy We’ve told you Bert Leahy’s story before. He was the Texas freelance videographer who worked briefly for Scientology’s “Squirrel Busters” caper, helping to snoop on Marty and Monique Rathbun in 2011, before his conscience got the better of him. Bert soon realized that working for “Dave Statter” wasn’t really the documentary project he thought he was working on — he and his fellow Squirrel Busters were obviously just stalking the Rathbuns, and had been told, in Statter’s words, to “Make Marty’s life a living hell.” Leahy quit after a couple of days, and then felt so lousy about taking part in something so nefarious, he contacted Rathbun to apologize. That’s when, after talking to Rathbun, the two of them realized that “Statter” was really Scientology private investigator Dave Lubow. Continue reading Scientology Payback: Revenge of the Videographers
 The last couple of weeks have been very intense here at the Underground Bunker — culminating in Friday’s devastating release of Laura DeCrescenzo’s “pc files” and the picture of Sea Org slavery that they portray.
On Sundays, we like to relax a bit by enjoying the wacky Scientology mailers that our tipsters have forwarded during the week. This time, however, we have something a little different for you. We asked Observer, our shoop expert, to put together an image that came to us recently as the comments section here at the Bunker went through a few days with more agita than usual. We are very fortunate to have such an intelligent discussion happening here, with many great regulars. But like any Internet forum, things can get a bit wild and woolly. For some reason, as things got heated, an image came into focus of the folks who might be keeping a close watch on the news we break here at the Bunker, as well as the many great contributions by our readers. And here’s what we asked Observer to create for us.
Continue reading Sunday Special: Remembering Some People Who Mattered
—————-In anticipation of her biggest day in court yet, Laura DeCrescenzo and her attorneys hit the Church of Scientology with 928 pages of new filings —————- Details from 18,000 pages of evidence show how Scientology manipulated a child to keep her working under slave-like conditions —————- A key document describing DeCrescenzo’s unwillingness to have her coerced abortion is missing from the evidence Scientology was ordered to produce Advertisement
 Laura DeCrescenzo in the Sea Org the year of her abortion, 1996
By Tony Ortega Wednesday afternoon, Laura DeCrescenzo filed explosive new information in her four-year legal odyssey against the Church of Scientology, submitting 928 pages of new declarations and exhibits in anticipation of a crucial October 23 hearing in her lawsuit against the church which alleges abuse, including allegations that she was forced to have an abortion at only 17 years of age. Continue reading HOW SCIENTOLOGY COERCED A CHILD TO HAVE AN ABORTION: THE LAURA DECRESCENZO FILES
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Yesterday, France’s highest court laid down an historic decision, upholding a verdict that found the Church of Scientology’s Paris Celebrity Centre had fraudulently harmed people simply by applying Scientology’s normal processes.
