For Christmas Eve, we have Scientology videos full of cheer

We have plenty of wrapping to do today, and we thought you might too, so we’ve lined up some videos you can play when you have a moment to sit with a cup of cocoa as you prepare for the big day tomorrow!

First up, we want to thank the reader who let us know that on Sunday, our past and future president gave his first speech since the election, and about halfway through it he paused to thank none other than Scientology’s richest donor, the Patron of Legend herself, Trish Duggan!

Earlier this month, we checked Trish’s financials and found that in 2022 she gave Scientology’s IAS $18 million in only a single year. Reuters in April reported that she had given more than $5 million to MAGA this election cycle. No wonder Trump called her “one of my great friends,” and even got her last name right the second time.

We also want to thank Janis Gillham Grady and Mark Fisher for inviting us on their YouTube show, Scientology - Peeling the Onion, for a fun hour.

Last month, we told you about some new TV ads that Scientology leader David Miscavige premiered at the IAS Gala in England. Of the three, one of them was really quite different and more creative than the usual thing Scientology puts out. We shared the ad with our subscribers.

Could it be their Super Bowl ad this year? We don’t know. But we noticed that the church has put the ad on their YouTube channel, so we thought we’d share it with everyone now who hasn’t had a chance to see it.

We learned that the woman who kicks off the ad is Wyni Landry, an actress and Scientologist.

As long as we were looking at Scientology’s YouTube channel, we couldn’t help noticing that about a month ago, one of the fawning videos about David Miscavige that have been migrating from Dave’s dot org site featured none other than Kannon Feshbach.

And you know what that means! No, actually, we won’t torture you with what is one of our favorite and most bizarre visuals we’ve ever published and put you through that again. But if you’re curious about what we’re going on about, you can follow this link.

And finally, it’s Tuesday, so we have a regular feature. Once again we paired up with Chris Shelton to go over the news of the week!

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Continuing our year in review: The stories of April 2024

Chris Owen revisited the subject of Scientology in Russia, the subject of a previous series he had done for us.

The LA Times had a great look at Scientology’s interference in the Danny Masterson criminal case.

We were stunned by a resurfaced video shot at Saint Hill in 1963, with L. Ron Hubbard mugging for the camera to show what a typical afternoon was like there. An amazing artifact of that time.

Scientology held the grand opening for its Paris Ideal Org, and we had friends on the scene reporting the action! David Miscavige was a no-show, but Scientology tried to make it look like he was there for it.

Scientology tried to use a man named Armando Garcia to smear Leah Remini in court, but Garcia spoke to us for his first public interview, and denied what Scientology had said about him.

Despite his misgivings about it, Judge Randolph Hammock acknowledged that he had no choice but to give up Leah Remini’s lawsuit after David Miscavige filed a peremptory challenge.

The Eleventh Circuit denied the petition from Valeska Paris and the Baxters for an interlocutory appeal in their federal trafficking lawsuit against Scientology. The lower court’s ruling that the case has to go to Scientology’s “religious arbitration” stands.

Alex Barnes-Ross took his complaints about how his questions and complaints were being handled directly and personally to the East Grinstead town council in a closed-door meeting that he wrote about for us.

We had fun putting together a news-clipping narrative to describe L. Ron Hubbard’s nightmare year of 1951. Later we did the same thing with Hubbard’s ill-fate 1932 sailing adventure in the Caribbean.

Scientology put out another “season” of unwatchable propaganda on its TV channel, and this time former NFL great Marshall Faulk was the star.

A stunning turn of events in a Los Angeles courtroom. Before Judge Robert Broadbelt can deliver a tentative ruling declaring Scientology’s arbitration inherently unfair, church leader David Miscavige had Broadbelt removed from the case just before a hearing was to begin. In a video, we described how the rules allowed Miscavige to pull off what seemed like an incredibly unfair maneuver.

Leah Remini gets passed over for a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, year after year, despite her decades of starring work and a couple of Emmy awards. Could it have something to do with her advocacy against Scientology in a town where the church has so many tentacles?

A rare opportunity: We got an inside look at what being a major Scientology donor can do to your family.

Valerie Haney gave us another interview, this time about the two additional days of “arbitration” that Scientology put her through in February. In a video, we vented about what Scientology is getting away with in these “arbitration” rulings in the lawsuits by Val and by Valeska Paris.

Dave turned 64!

A LOOK BACK AT APRIL 2023: John Sweeney on the podcast, what a treat. Tracey McManus had outed developer Rodney Riley as a Scientology shill. We had an eyewitness account of David Miscavige’s LRH Birthday Event speech. Scientology PI Yanti Michael Greene, tried to haul us into court and failed. Scientology quietly paid $13.5 million for a former church just a few blocks away from its Big Blue campus. On April 17, jury selection begins in the Danny Masterson retrial. We overheard in court that a grand jury is still looking into Scientology. We cycled out to Scientology’s Valley Org to crash a fundraising party. Opening statements in the trial began on April 24, and we also got the first witness, Jane Doe 3. Two days later, it was Jane Doe 1’s turn. And David Miscavige turned 63.

A LOOK BACK AT APRIL 2022: Scientology frightened the folks at Emory University into removing a video presentation they’d invited us to do. YouTube chiropractor Dr. Eric Berg was sued for forcing Scientology on an employee, and after we told his son Ian Rafalko about it, Berg threw in the towel. Scientologist actor Eddie Deezen was arrested again, and was being held on a mental health watch. We’re leaked audio of David Miscavige announcing the new “Golden Age of Admin” release. Valeska Paris and two other former Sea Org workers living in Australia file a new labor trafficking lawsuit against Scientology in Tampa, Florida.

A LOOK BACK AT APRIL 2021: Ben Schneiders uncorked a beauty about Scientology’s finances in Australia. OT 8 art dealer Izzy Chait went on to his reward. SNL’s breakout new star, Chloe Fineman, is a Scientologist and the child of Scientologists. New York chiropractor and Scientology donor Jay Spina was sentenced to nine years in prison for Medicare fraud. Tommy Davis and his new wife welcomed a son into the world.

A LOOK BACK AT APRIL 2020: Whoopi Goldberg recommended Narconon. Wealthy Scientologist Jim Mathers said of Covid, “healthy people don’t get sick.” Scientology started putting out some very weird videos as a result of members being locked down at home. LRH 2.0 faced a revolt. Another confirmation from Scientology itself that its numbers are in the thousands, not millions. David Miscavige turned 60.

A LOOK BACK AT APRIL 2019: Shooting victim Brian Statler was identified. Chris Owen filled us in on Scientology’s odd efforts in Papua New Guinea. Graham Berry shared another stunning demand letter with us. Sunny Perreira told us her story about Brad Pitt bringing his pet igauna to the Celebrity Centre for some auditing. Danny Masterson’s accusers and Mike Rinder’s daughter had a confrontation caught on video.

A LOOK BACK AT APRIL 2018: Chris Owen found that L. Ron Hubbard tried to buy Malawi. Leah Remini was subjected to a Scientology “noisy investigation.” We chatted with the convicted felon who says he’s the returned L. Ron Hubbard. Tommy Davis showed up with a new look. Kim Poff was finally able to give us an interview about getting fired by Oklahoma for blowing the whistle on Narconon. Rocker Cedric Bixler-Zavala told us about the harassment his wife Chrissie Carnell Bixler was going through after coming forward as a victim of Scientologist actor Danny Masterson.

A LOOK BACK AT APRIL 2017: Scientologist actor Erika Christensen raised eyebrows for playing a Christian convert on film. We dug up a reference to ‘Mount Xenu’ in a Hubbard lecture. Dee Findlay schooled the Clearwater city council. A 1973 documentary featuring Nan McLean resurfaced.

A LOOK BACK AT APRIL 2016: David Miscavige was filmed opening an Ideal Org in Atlanta. Phil and Willie Jones put up a billboard in Los Angeles about Scientology disconnection. We revealed that Giovanni Ribisi’s daughter Lucia Ribisi had ditched Scientology. The Gregg Hagglund story — seeing a Fair Game operation from both ends. How David Miscavige ripped apart his own family, and how Lisa Marie Presley became (at least for a short time) his biggest nightmare. David Miscavige threatened to sue his own Dad, and we were live on the scene as Laura DeCrescenzo’s lawsuit survived a second motion for summary judgment. Was this the greatest single month for news in the history of the Bunker? It was certainly up there.

A LOOK BACK AT APRIL 2015: We broke down the elements that made SNL’s parody, ‘Neurotology,’ so great. We brought you full audio tapes of police interviews with the Scientology private eyes who stalked Ron Miscavige. And we dug up the true history of Tom Cruise and Mimi Rogers.

A LOOK BACK AT APRIL 2014: We checked with his tailor to find out David Miscavige’s actual height. Tax documents spelled out Scientology’s amazing cash value. And an insider provided us documents showing that Narconon Arrowhead is running on fumes.

A LOOK BACK AT APRIL 2013: Live-blogging Rock Center‘s Narconon expose, behind the scenes at Int Base with “Love in the Time of Miscavige,” and Narconon in Georgia raided.

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For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:

Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain

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