Joy Villa at the Grammys, Scientology at Saint Hill: Music as a racket

It was interesting to see some of the social media responses to Joy Villa’s return to the Grammy Awards last night.

Most of which could be summed up this way: Who is this woman and what the hell is she wearing?

We have a long history with “Princess Joy Villa,” going back more than a decade. For a quick refresher on who she is and how she managed to become a little bit famous, at least for a few years, here’s a two-minute video we put together back in 2018, when she was getting access to the White House during the first Trump administration.

For several years, Joy was using the Grammys to make political statements with nutty dresses designed by her friend Andre Soriano. Last night’s frock appeared to be a tribute to the cybercurrency Dogecoin? Is that what it was? Was she trying to get Elon Musk’s attention with it?

As the Hollywood Reporter pointed out, this was the first time since 2020 that Joy has showed up to the Grammys. During the Biden administration, she apparently went into the wilderness as far as her political and popular pursuits.

In 2022, she turned up at a Dianetics table in Brighton, England, which seemed like a big fall from playing footsie with the White House.

We suppose Joy will have a hard time recapturing the political momentum she had in 2017, which had her considering a run for Congress. But at least she still has the Grammys to use as a grift.

Scientology has long had its tentacles in the music business, and uses music as a recruiting and publicity tool.

We were reminded of that earlier this week when a reader forwarded to us the latest Advance! magazine, which contained an article about the Charity Ball at this past year’s IAS gala in England.

The IAS gala is such a big event in the Scientology year, taking place normally in October, and held over three nights under a big tent temporarily erected at the Saint Hill UK Headquarters in East Grinstead, England.

Since the event made its post-pandemic return in 2023, we have tended to focus on the first two nights of the gala: Friday night’s big speech by church leader David Miscavige, and Saturday night’s Patrons Ball, when the organization’s big donors are given their new trophies. And of course the demonstrations being held outside by former London staffer Alex Barnes-Ross.

We’ve paid less attention to Sunday night’s Charity Ball, when Scientology invites local dignitaries to receive donations from the church and puts on a concert for them, using music to allay any fears that they are actually a money-grubbing, labor trafficking, extortionate mafia masquerading as a religious organization.

Here’s that article about what a great time everyone had at the Charity Ball this past October…

The IAS Ruby Anniversary Weekend ended as it began, with the sound of music. As is customary, the closing event was a concert for locals that benefits the community, And on this Sunday evening, after a welcome reception, 1,350 guests filed into the Grand Marquee to enjoy performances by a world-class roster of artists at the Saint Hill Charity Concert. This event carries on a tradition, started by LRH when he lived at Saint Hill, to support local charities and area activities.

That history was recounted by Emmy Award-winning actress Nancy Cartwright, who served as the emcee. In her opening remarks, she announced this year's beneficiaries: The Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex, the Bluebell Railway Trust, the East Grinstead Sports Club, the East Grinstead Rugby Football Club and the Crowborough Athletic Football Club.

Then it was time for the UK's No. 1 jive and swing band, The Jive Aces, to take it away. After a hand-clapping, toe-tapping set that included "Keeping the Show on the Road" and "It Don't Mean a Thing" (if you ain't got that swing), they were joined by Irish rockabilly singer Alan Power. The Jives took their high-energy performance off the stage, interacting with the audience, who got into the act by dancing in the aisles and singing along. Their crowd-pleasing performance earned a standing ovation.

With a reminder about the long-lasting benefits of this evening, Nancy Cartwright returned to the stage to introduce representatives from the charities that received funds raised by the concert. Each offered a heartfelt speech about what the Church's generous support means to their organizations and the community.

The music continued with a string trio that brought an electric energy to classical numbers. Then Emmy- and Grammy-winning composer Mark Isham took centre stage, playing his own blend of electronic jazz on the trumpet. The all-star line-up carried on with jazz legend and Grammy-winning bassist Stanley Clarke, who was joined by violin virtuoso Evan Garr.

Next up was the UK's own Jennifer Phillips, whose soaring voice first gained national attention on The X Factor UK. Her rendition of "Somewhere" had the crowd on their feet.

Jesse Stevenson brought a touch of gospel to the show, with a set that ranged from "Stand Up" to the James Bond theme song "Live and Let Die." Montreal-based singer Pamela Boyer kept the energy going with her cover of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep," then segued to the R & B classic "Lean on Me." All of the performers were back onstage for a grand finale of "All You Need Is Love."

It was an evening that elicited rave reviews. "You guys really know how to put on a bash," said one local, adding, "You are the kindest people I've ever met. And you give to charity? What's not to love?" Another guest who called the event "fantastic' said, "I got to see how much we as a community are being helped by Saint Hill and, of course, the music was incredible."

"IAS Freedom Medal Winner Jan Eastgate summed up the sentiment saying, "It was a wonderful end to a super fantastic weekend!"

That quote from Jan Eastgate was just the cherry on top, wasn’t it?

Jan is an Australian Scientologist who is listed as international president of Citizens Commission on Human Rights, Scientology’s unhinged anti-psychiatry front group.

She was arrested in 2011 in Sydney over allegations that in 1985 she had coached a 10-year-old girl to lie to police about being molested by her Scientologist father — a crime the man admitted to.

When the girl, Carmen Rainer, grew up, she and her mother complained to police about Jan’s role in the matter, and she was arrested and faced charges. But before she could be tried, prosecutors realized they had charged Eastgate under a 1990 law that did not exist when the alleged crime occurred, and it compromised the case. The charges were dropped, and Jan insisted that the allegations had been "egregiously false."

But hey, she had a good time at the Charity Concert.

If you couldn’t get to Saint Hill for the show, you have another chance to see Stanley Clarke, who seemed to have wandered away from Scientology for a time but in recent years has been highly active.

He’s the main feature over at Scientology TV right now, in case it’s been a while since you flipped to Dave’s channel.

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