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Celebrity Sunday: Jim Meskimen, Terry Jastrow, and… Helena Kobrin?

 
We’re continuing to look back at recent issues of Scientology’s Celebrity magazine, which appears to be a victim of the pandemic. Today, we thought we’d go through issue 439, which came out in October 2017 and featured actor and impressionist Jim Meskimen on the cover.

Continue reading Celebrity Sunday: Jim Meskimen, Terry Jastrow, and… Helena Kobrin?

PODCAST: HBO ‘Q Into the Storm’ star Fredrick Brennan on Scientology and QAnon

 
We hope you had a chance to see HBO’s excellent 2021 investigation into the origins of the QAnon phenomenon, Q Into the Storm, directed by Cullen Hoback. One of the surprising stars of the series was Fredrick Brennan, the young man who had founded 8chan, the imageboard that became the nursery for the QAnon movement, something Brennan came to regret.

Continue reading PODCAST: HBO ‘Q Into the Storm’ star Fredrick Brennan on Scientology and QAnon

Scientology tells court: Two arbitrators have agreed to serve in Valerie Haney case

 
Last week we told you that attorney Graham Berry had taken charge of Valerie Haney’s case in a big way, submitting filings which included new names for possible arbiters in her lawsuit against Scientology, which has been forced into “religious arbitration.”

Continue reading Scientology tells court: Two arbitrators have agreed to serve in Valerie Haney case

Scientology documentary resurfaces, and it leads to a foreign exchange program!

[Rod Keller and Stacy Young, 1998]

We recently heard from Peter Reichelt, an Austrian journalist, and what an interesting name from Scientology journalism’s past.

Continue reading Scientology documentary resurfaces, and it leads to a foreign exchange program!

Is this Scientology’s greatest fundraising flier ever? It’s ‘Mission Earth’ stupendous!

 
You know them, Scientology’s stupendously long fundraising fliers that they put out after a big money-grubbing event. In this case, it was an event to raise cash for the long-forlorn project in Toronto.

Continue reading Is this Scientology’s greatest fundraising flier ever? It’s ‘Mission Earth’ stupendous!

Scientology: Trafficking suit has a Waffle House problem. ALSO: Newiga sings in Tokyo!

[Newiga takes Tokyo!]

 
The Bunker’s own Newiga flew over to Tokyo to run in the marathon there, and then did us a favor by going to the Scientology Ideal Org, snapping some photos, and even sang a little song for us all.

Continue reading Scientology: Trafficking suit has a Waffle House problem. ALSO: Newiga sings in Tokyo!

Jenny Burpee, former Scientology Sea Orger and Cat White friend who helped find her, dead at 39

 
In September and October 2015, we found ourselves at the Underground Bunker scrambling to keep up with a major national story that we’d helped to break: Actor Jim Carrey’s girlfriend, Cathriona “Cat” White, had been found dead of an apparent suicide at 30. We were the first to add the detail that Cat, an immigrant from Ireland, had become involved in Scientology in Hollywood and was doing its “Survival Rundown” when she ended her life.

Continue reading Jenny Burpee, former Scientology Sea Orger and Cat White friend who helped find her, dead at 39

Remembering Dan Sherman, Scientology’s bad biographer and worse speechwriter

 
One thing that’s changed over our years of covering Scientology is that we used to get more videos from big events that featured David Miscavige giving speeches.

Continue reading Remembering Dan Sherman, Scientology’s bad biographer and worse speechwriter

PODCAST: Steve Cannane checks in after reporting from the war in Ukraine

 
One of our favorite people in the whole world is Australian journalist Steve Cannane. We first became aware of Steve’s work because he was tearing it up at the ABC with story after story about Scientology in the land Down Under.

Continue reading PODCAST: Steve Cannane checks in after reporting from the war in Ukraine

Report from the breakaway republic that’s still causing Scientology headaches

[Tami and Dani Lemberger at the Dror Center]

Back in 2012, one of the most remarkable stories we got to report was the stunning breakaway of an entire Scientology mission.

Continue reading Report from the breakaway republic that’s still causing Scientology headaches