PHOTO: Jenna Elfman emceeing Scientology’s concert, and more IAS fallout

Once again we have Alex Barnes-Ross to thank after he sent over the photo you see above, our first image of Jenna Elfman actually emceeing last week’s Scientology IAS charity concert, which occurred on the final night of the big IAS three-day series of events at Saint Hill Manor in East Grinstead, England.

We had previously posted photos that Jenna herself had uploaded to her Facebook account showing her and her husband Bodhi Elfman as they dressed to the nines for the Friday night event (a David Miscavige speech and the handing out of Freedom medals) and Saturday night’s black tie Patrons Ball.

But this is our first glimpse of her handling her duties putting on the Sunday night concert. Now, if we can just get some clear images of David Miscavige on stage. So far, we’ve only seen one very out of focus shot. Let us know if you’ve found something.

Meanwhile, Alex sent over another shot that we knew our sleuths in the Bunker community would have some fun with. As always, we’re wondering about the number of people that Scientology actually managed to attract to this event. One way to judge that is to literally count the seats in the venue. And Alex has found a photo that gives about the clearest shot of the seating under the tent. He says he’s counted only about 1,000 seats, and that includes the rows in the far distance beyond the sound stand. What number do you come up with?

And we have yet another bonus item thanks to Alex and our new friend from Vancouver, Jeff a/k/a PTS for Life, as a result of their trip to the org in Sunderland. In our discussion, they mentioned that they had grabbed some issues of Impact magazine that were sitting around, and that included a newer issue we hadn’t seen before.

It appears to be from earlier this year, and it includes the usual parade of whales who are being celebrated for increasing the amounts of their cumulative donations.

Once again, here’s our usual disclosure: It’s really important to keep in mind that these are cumulative amounts given just to one Scientology initiative, the International Association of Scientologists, the church’s membership organization (and leader David Miscavige’s legal slush fund). Someone credited for giving $1 million, for example, may have given only a few thousand in recent months that enabled them to get past that plateau. (For an explanation of how we know what amounts the statuses represent or the estimates we’ve made for some of them, see our methodology here.)

And just to be clear, these are donors being celebrated from earlier this year. The donors who were just feted at the IAS gala last week will show up in a future copy of Impact magazine, due in several weeks.

But for now, here are your 2023 whales who are keeping Scientology afloat…

The Ben Jacob Family, Silver Meritorious ($500,000), Florida

Chieko Suganuma, Silver Meritorious ($500,000), Japan

The Demarco Family, Silver Meritorious ($500,000), France

Angelika Thonauer & Christian Grischany, Silver Meritorious ($500,000), Austria

Bright Chou, Silver Meritorious With Honors ($750,000), Taiwan

Minoru Motokawa, Silver Meritorious With Honors ($750,000), Japan

Dylan Gaines, Gold Meritorious ($1 million), California

Earl Wertheim, Gold Meritorious ($1 million), Florida

Claudia Betancourt & Max Brylkin, Gold Meritorious ($1 million), Venezuela

Eva Scott, Gold Meritorious ($1 million), Mississippi

Manuel & Gabriela Suarez, Gold Meritorious With Honors ($1.75 million), Florida

Kevin & Karen Dale, Platinum Meritorious With Honors ($3.75 million), California

Kendrick & Aaradona Walker, Diamond Meritorious ($5 million), California

Steve & Wendi-Lynn Hechtman, Patron Excalibur ($20 million), California

Just last year, the Hechtmans were recognized for reaching “Platinum Laureate With Honors,” so our estimate is that they’ve given another $6.5 million in just the last year. Wow!

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Danny Masterson’s missing firearms

In case you missed last night’s bonus story, we reported that Judge Charlaine Olmedo will preside this morning over a hearing to determine why Danny Masterson has not turned over 9 of his 23 firearms to law enforcement, as he was required to more than three years ago.

We published the full list of his handguns and rifles last night, including the ones which are not accounted for.

We hope to have someone at the hearing today, and we’ll let you know what we find out.

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

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