Scientology rings in 2025 in Los Angeles: The photos!
A big thanks to Apostate Alex who, about an hour after we had rung in the new year here in New York, sent us a message that he had noticed Scientology had put up at its website a slideshow and press release for its celebration of 2025 arriving.
“365 DAYS OF EXPANSION,” the press release announced, and it’s dated December 31, 2024. But we want to remind you, the event you see portrayed in these photos actually took place on December 14 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
It’s Scientology’s custom to tape this event a couple of weeks early so they can show the video at the orgs around the world on December 31.
So, that date on the press release is a bit deceptive.
And what else might not be on the up and up?
Well, as always we’re curious about the number of attendees that they claim.
“More than 6,500 attendees streamed into the Shrine Auditorium,” the press release claims.
“The total capacity of the venue is 6,300,” Alex pointed out. Oh, that stickler.
Alex also noted that if you looked carefully at the photos Scientology posted, you could see some sections on top were not at capacity.
Ah well. Who knows. Whether it was at capacity or not, it was a sizable crowd there to hear church leader David Miscavige deliver another message about how Scientology is on fire and expansion is going through the roof.
As always, however, we were curious to see which of Scientology’s celebrities might have made the scene.
We were only able to spot a couple in the front row along with the international folks being recognized for handing out pamphlets, or whatever.
Actress Marisol Nichols, for example, was next to a contingent being recognized for running a WISE business that builds cell towers in Rwanda.
And Simpsons voice actress Nancy Cartwright was with some WISE guys from Argentina who run a steel concern.
Other than those two celebrities, the other faces we recognized belonged to the usual big donors you see at these things.
A couple who run a Hubbard College of Administration in Taichung, Taiwan were flanked by old standby Craig Jensen on the left, and Steve Fabos on the right, whose outfit was impressively festive!
Not to be outdone in that department was mega-donor Tom Cummins, who looked snazzy next to a couple of mission holders from Kathmandu.
One of the big themes of Miscavige’s speech was his “Golden Age of Admin” stuff, and he boasted that staff executives from around the world had been spending time at the Flag Land Base in Clearwater, Florida, so they could take that admin knowledge back to their orgs and really set the expansion on fire.
“Executive teams from Churches around the world returned from Flag to their home Orgs to ignite unparalleled growth,” the press release claimed, along with this photo of folks coming out of the Flag Building.
One face stood out to us. Do you recognize him?
You can see him a lot clearer in the photo they posted of the team from San Francisco that had brought back all that know-how from Flag to the city by the bay.
Yes, that’s Aaron Kyro, the Braille Skateboarding mogul who maintains a YouTube empire about teaching ollies and kickflips, while also being so dedicated to Scientology. We’ve remarked before on what an odd double life he leads. (And he’s also a “Gold Meritorious” $1 million donor.)
Getting back to the Shrine, another part of the New Year’s Eve celebration is to recognize the most successful Field Staff Members for bringing new people into Scientology.
Once again, Tom Cummins was featured, as well as Emmett Osborn, Venezuelan actress Ruddy Rodriguez, and others.
What a fine time they all seemed to have.
Thanks again to Apostate Alex for the head’s up in the wee hours! And happy New Year, everyone!
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When I was working on these events in the 90s we always had an overflow in the big ballroom outside the hall. You could easily put 400 in there, though usually it was 30 or 40, mostly women with crying babies or folks that really really really did not want to talk to the registrars. So it is conceivable to have 6400 at the Shrine, just extremely unlikely.
The balcony always gets filled up with staff members. Guess they are running low on those. If you discount the staff and so on, could be maybe 3,000 real attendees. Probably less, part of the lower main hall is taken over by equipment. Sound and lighting boards. Wouldn't be surprised if the actual count was in the hundreds.
The trick at these events is to get out the door somehow without getting asked "Will that be cash or credit card?"
In those days there was always a book or something to sell, didn't see that this time. Maybe they just go for cash nowadays. Money for nothing. Or they are trying to sign up idiots to go to Flag for the Golden Age of Dreck administrative training.
How to use a Telex machine correctly! The Three Basket System! (IN, OUT and PENDING). The proper format for a hand-written memo (called a dispatch). Reports using carbon paper, one to the evil-doer via all his seniors, a carbon straight to Ethics. Marking physical paper graphs on the wall. No AI in this office!
The Shrine was old in the 1970s. And we did pack it to the rafters for celebrity appearances like Amanda Ambrose. It was a logistical nightmare. Staff, except for those of us running the event, usually didn’t get to attend. So now with the massive expansion, they force staff to attend events to fill the seats? Sounds like the definition of Scientology expansion to me.