Scientology’s 2023: Another year is in the books at the Underground Bunker!

Was this the busiest year ever at the Underground Bunker? Sure felt like it. And the stories are still coming, even on a weekend like this.

Just yesterday we had fun debunking a new Scientology court document that attempted once again to blame Leah Remini for something she had nothing to do with. Tsk, tsk, Scientology.

Well, that’s the kind of thing we love to do, and the best part is the reaction we get from you, our readers, who have been with us for yet another trip around the sun.

This was a particularly special year for us, not only for being able, once again, to cover a major trial day after day for an eager audience. But also for the break we had to take in August when we had surgery and spent some time recuperating. (It all went fine and we’re doing really well.) The Underground Bunker kept going during that time thanks to our great friends who helped us with their submissions, such wonderful writers as Sunny Pereira, Chris Owen, and Bruce Hines. These longtime, great contributors were invaluable to us when we really needed them, and we are grateful.

This, we hope, will be our final post for 2023. (Except for Group Therapy, coming for subscribers at noon!) Tomorrow morning, we’re starting out the new year with a piece we think you’ll really like. So please, keep on reading the Bunker as together we see where this crazy story about this country’s most harmful, deceptive and venal “religious” organization takes us!

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Observer’s favorite shoops of 2023

Observer, who does our posters and is a great shoop (Photoshop edit) artist in her own right, chose five of the illos in our comments section that she enjoyed the most. (In no particular order.)

From Richard…

From Phil Jones…

Mark Parry-Maddocks was on fire again this year…

Another from Mark Parry-Maddocks

And Mark Parry-Maddocks again!

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BEST OF THE BUNKER, 2023

For the last seven years we have put together a list of our personal choices for most significant pieces we posted in the past calendar year. Some of them were scoops, others were investigative features, and some of them we just really enjoyed writing or were proud to post. (We’ll be adding this list to our favorites of all time.) So here goes.

20. Ramping up the podcast, with some great surprises

This year we really had fun adding podcast episodes to the written stories of this website. Some of the highlights included Fredrick Brennan, star of HBO’s Q: Into the Storm; the inimitable Mark Ebner dishing on Tom Cruise’s pal Chris McQuarrie; John Sweeney checking in while on a break from his Ukraine coverage; Steve Cannane doing the same; Jonny Jacobsen giving us an update from Paris; and maybe the most fun we had was getting to early showings of Oppenheimer so we could talk about its tenuous links to L. Ron Hubbard with former Scientologist and physics college instructor Bruce Hines!

19. Yanti Michael Greene continues to entertain us

For years, we’ve been telling you about Yanti Michael Greene, the retired NYPD detective who stalked Leah Remini and Jennifer Lopez for Scientology. This year, he tried to haul us into court for a deposition (didn’t work), but then we got video footage of his own questioning under oath. Well, you know what they say about turnabout.

18. Another disgraced journalist is taking Scientology money

This was another one that’s been building for years, but finally we got a chance to out Scientology’s latest reporter shill, a disgraced former National Enquirer reporter named John Blosser who has become the church’s go-to hack, “investigating” yours truly, Mike Rinder and Leah Remini, Graham Berry, and others.

17. The whales keeping Scientology afloat with ever-greater donations

For years we’ve enjoyed keeping tabs on the way Scientology celebrates its big donors, with giant bowling trophies and black-tie shindigs. And this year, wow, did they go all out as the IAS gala returned to England and more $1 million-plus donors were recognized than ever before. Thankfully, we got all of their pictures and names, to help spread the good word about their largesse.

16. Trish Conley comes forward from the ‘Daycare From Hell’ story

It was one of our most disturbing, and yet rewarding, pieces we had done here at the Bunker, exposing the scandal at a Scientology daycare that got swept under the rug by “Master-at-arms” Julian Swartz. One mother, however, was brave enough to defy Swartz and press charges, a woman whose name we held back. Now, with Julian Swartz’s photo become public thanks to Yashar Ali, Leah Remini’s good friend Trish Conley came forward to identify herself as the mom in the story. She also appeared twice at our podcast, one with her sister in Australia. What a lot of great material about Scientology got exposed here.

15. That time L. Ron Hubbard tried to be a bigamist, again

It was just a tantalizing mention in Lawrence Wright’s great book Going Clear: In 1949, L. Ron Hubbard (who was still married to his second wife, Sara Northrup) had taken out a marriage license to marry “Ann Jensen,” who promptly canceled the wedding. But who was she? Now, finally, with the help of a researcher we’d learned more about her, and we confirmed with a family member that we’d hit paydirt. What a fun reveal.

14. He made Scientology look good for decades, but now, not so much

One of the people who came forward for the first time this year was Mitch Brisker, who had been Scientology’s director of films for many years, and now had a lot to say about what’s been going on at some of the highest levels in the organization. He helped us with an update on Shelly Miscavige, he dished some great intel on David Miscavige and his love life, and we enjoyed very much his book, Scientology: The Big Lie.

13. The witness who helped make the Danny Masterson case happen

Once Danny Masterson was convicted, we finally had the chance to tell the story of Damian Perkins. We’ve known Damian for many years, and he’s a fascinating and talented man. But what we’d been anxious for people to know was that it was a chance conversation with one of the Jane Does in 2015 that led Damian to help these women learn about each other, and helped to get the ball rolling towards a criminal case. And for that, he’s been subjected to tremendous Scientology intimidation.

12. Another former Scientology PI comes forward

What a bombshell in May: Alanna Warren approached us and we printed her account of spying for Scientology on such figures as Mike Rinder, Christie Collbran, Amy Scobee, Mat Pesch, and others in the period after they came forward in the Tampa Bay Times. She had receipts, too, which we published in a couple of followups.

11. Another horrific case of elder abuse, with something of a happy ending

While Mike Brown came forward to speak with Leah Remini and Mike Rinder for their YouTube channel about the horrific way his elderly mother, Rosemary Chicwak, had been treated by Scientology, we got to publish the killer demand letter that her attorney, Graham Berry used to scare the church out of a significant check to make her whole. Still, her abuse is inexcusable, and we have a feeling we’ll be hearing more about her situation in the future.

10. Mike Rinder is kicking cancer’s ass

In June, we got news we really didn’t want to hear: Our friend Mike Rinder had been diagnosed with stage 4 esophageal cancer, and he’d been having a rough go in the hospital. We couldn’t help fearing the worst, but since then, and with the amazing support of his wife Christie Collbran, they put together a great medical team and Mike is doing amazingly well. We can personally attest to that, having seen him at a screening of Geoff Levin’s documentary Brothers Broken earlier this month in New York.

9. Valerie Haney won’t back down

We’ve had quite a year talking to Valerie Haney about her lawsuit, which was forced into Scientology’s “religious arbitration” and so, naturally, has put her into one farcical situation after another. For Rolling Stone, she told us about nominating such Scientologists as Elisabeth Moss, Tom Cruise, and Shelly Miscavige for her arbitrating panel. She also helped us connect Tom Cruise to the Shelly Miscavige story. And best of all, we got to be there in Los Angeles as she was going through a ludicrous three days of “arbitrating” (which we wrote for The Daily Beast and here) which was just an attempt to intimidate her by the church.

8. David Miscavige officially deemed to be ducking process servers

For years we’ve watched Scientology leader David Miscavige play games with the US courts, having his attorneys make disingenuous excuses to keep him out of lawsuits. But finally, in February, a federal magistrate in Tampa declared that Miscavige has been purposely evading service, and named him an official defendant in a labor trafficking lawsuit. Huge, right? So why isn’t this higher on the list? Well, even before the ink on that decision was made, the same court derailed the lawsuit by granting Scientology’s motion to force it into “religious arbitration.” One glimmer of hope though, the same judge granted the plaintiffs the right to an interlocutory appeal, and so we await a decision of the Eleventh Circuit.

7. The Bixler lawsuit gets going again, and now adds RICO

The Jane Does actually sued Danny Masterson (and Scientology) in 2019, before he was charged criminally. But their lawsuit (‘Bixler v. Scientology’) has been on hold while his trials were going on, and now, finally, it’s active again. And whoa, Nelly. Scientology came out swinging with an attempt to gut the lawsuit. Meanwhile, one of the Jane Does, Jane Doe 1, added a dramatic new lawsuit of her own about brutal allegations of being forced into marriage as a minor in the church, and this week the Bixler case proposed adding civil RICO charges and a sixth plaintiff, actress Tricia Vessey. Now that Danny Masterson has been criminally convicted, these civil litigation issues only seem to be growing for Scientology!

6. Dave’s back! Scientology revives its events in England and Los Angeles

When the pandemic hit, Scientology stopped holding its traditional international events and leader David Miscavige retreated to the Flag Land Base in Clearwater, Florida, where he held all events at the Fort Harrison Hotel. But this year, Dave made the move to return the fall IAS gala to England, and the New Year’s event to Los Angeles. “Apostate Alex” Barnes-Ross made sure Dave had a warm welcome in East Grinstead, and then he and the Bunker teamed up to bring you Dave’s speeches at both the IAS party and in LA.

5. Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis say Danny Masterson is a great guy

After Danny Masterson was sentenced, we knew it should be possible to get copies of letters that had been written to the court asking for leniency. With Meghann Cuniff, we got those letters and then posted them on September 8, leading with letters from Masterson’s former ‘That ‘70s Show’ castmates Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis. The response from the Internet was immediate and deafening. Later, we also put out more letters from Ethan Suplee and others.

4. Lisa Marie Presley on Scientology, Michael Jackson, and more

In January, we were stunned to learn of the death of Lisa Marie Presley. Just two months before, we had broken the news that she was on the witness list in the first Danny Masterson trial (she wasn’t ultimately, called to testify), and we knew she had a lot to say about Scientology. That’s because in 2015 we’d had lengthy conversations about her involvement in the church, about the way it forced her to break up with Michael Jackson, and more. We wanted the public to know what a fighter she was, how fun she was to talk to, and what she had to say about David Miscavige and his organization. Our lengthy piece about Lisa was one of the most read stories here all year.

3. Judge Olmedo catches Tom Mesereau leaking to Scientology

Separate from the Danny Masterson criminal trial itself, this was truly a stunning development: The DA’s office informed Judge Charlaine Olmedo that it learned much of the sensitive evidence in the case that it had turned over to the defense somehow ended up in the hands of Scientology’s attorney Vicki Podberesky, who was then using it to try and compromise the case by having the LAPD go after its own detectives. Say what? We were gobsmacked. After a short hearing, Judge Olmedo found that it was Masterson’s previous legal team, famous defense attorney Tom Mesereau and Sharon Appelbaum, who had leaked the material, and she sanctioned them. (They began to appeal, but then dropped their appeals.) We are sure we haven’t heard the last of this.

2. Leah Remini sues Scientology, both sides take off the gloves

Well, this was a battle a lot of us were waiting for. On August 2, Leah Remini filed a lawsuit against Scientology and leader David Miscavige, accusing them of subjecting her to years of harassment and smear campaigns, and with specific evidence of how it was affecting her ability to make a living. Scientology came back with screechy attacks that they could call Leah a bigot and racist and rape apologist all they wanted, and now we’re heading to an early showdown on January 9 that should give us some indication on where the judge is on this. We can hardly wait.

1. Danny Masterson, Scientology celebrity, sent to prison for 30 years to life

In April and May, we were in Los Angeles covering the second criminal trial against Danny Masterson after the first one the previous fall had ended in a hung jury. For the third time, (once in a 2021 prelim, and then in the first trial) the three Jane Doe victims had to testify and then endure cross-examining. But this time Judge Olmedo allowed more testimony about Scientology, including by expert Claire Headley. Also, Deputy DA Ariel Anson was especially effective in opening and closing statements, and defense attorneys Philip Cohen and Shawn Holley seemed less effective than the first time around. Still, the result stunned us: Masterson was convicted of two counts of forcible rape, he was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison, and throughout it, Scientology was exposed as a totalitarian organization that punishes victims and especially rape victims. What an experience this was.

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Finishing up our year in review: The stories of Nov-Dec 2023

Apostate Alex Barnes-Ross pulled off his three-day protest at Scientology’s UK headquarters in East Grinstead as church leader David Miscavige (with best bud Tom Cruise in tow) returned to England to hold the IAS gala there for the first time since 2019. A few days later, we partnered with Alex to bring you Dave’s full IAS speech!

Judge Olmedo was unhappy to learn that not all of Danny Masterson’s guns were accounted for, and called for a hearing to discuss it, and then gave the defense a deadline to ‘fess up to what happened to them.

Patty Moher dropped in on Scientology’s moribund ‘Ideal Org’ project in New Haven.

We favorably reviewed Mitch Brisker’s book about his many years making Scientology look good as one of its film directors.

Canada’s CBC pulled off a nice three-month undercover investigation that showed how Scientology is practicing mental health medical care without a license.

Leah Remini’s legal team released crucial Australian legal documents showing how Scientology has been lying about her being responsible for a knife slaying there in 2019.

At the Daily Beast, we revealed that we’d been in Los Angeles as Valerie Haney was going through three days of “religious arbitration” at the hands of Scientology, which seemed determined to intimidate her and waste her time.

We were saddened to learn of the sudden death of YouTuber Doug Kramer to heart disease at only 50.

Sunny Pereira gave us another of her devastating pieces about the long-lasting effects of growing up Scientology and having your family ripped apart.

Chris Owen gave us a great piece to celebrate the Church of Scientology’s 70th birthday.

Once again, we partnered with Apostate Alex, this time to bring you David Miscavige’s New Year’s event speech — and more than a week before Scientologists would hear it!

We got a look at the whales keeping Scientology afloat who were celebrated at the IAS gala in England.

Danny Masterson was moved from LA’s jail to state prison, and we got a new look at him after seven months in custody.

And Masterson’s victims proposed to upgrade their civil lawsuit against him in a big way, by adding racketeering charges and a sixth plaintiff, actress Tricia Vessey!

A LOOK BACK AT NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022: Jane Doe 2 testified in the Danny Masterson trial, followed by actress Jordan Ladd and Jane Doe 2’s mother. And a bombshell: Lisa Marie Presley had intended to take the Fifth Amendment if she was called to testify. But Judge Olmedo ruled out most of her testimony and she wasn’t called. Actress Tricia Vessey testified that she was raped twice by Masterson in 1996. Leah Remini joined us for a podcast episode about Scientology and the LAPD. And Mike Rinder joined us for a Thanksgiving day episode. During deliberations, the Great Breakfast Burrito Scandal of 2022. On November 30, the great let-down: The jury was hung on all three counts, and Judge Olmedo declared a mistrial. Scientology wasn’t happy that Valerie Haney had nominated Tom Cruise and Shelly Miscavige as arbitrators. Kirstie Alley was dead of colon cancer at only 71. Chris Shelton invited us to join him in an interview of the Danny Masterson trial’s jury foreman. Jane Kember, Scientology’s legendary spymaster during the Snow White years, died at 85. A poll revealed that Americans hated Scientology as much as they did Satanism. And a horrible tragedy: Whitney Mills, a 40-year-old real estate agent and OT 8 Scientologist, had set herself on fire and then shot herself.

A LOOK BACK AT NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021: We listened live to an appeals hearing in the Bixler case. The Garcia appeal was struck down by the Eleventh Circuit. Finally, a mostly full transcript of the infamous 1982 Mission Holders Meeting. L. Ron Hubbard’s last living son Arthur begins blogging. We sadly noted the passing of a gentle soul, Jim Dincalci. A document leak describes the “Chase Wave” that became an important ploy used by Scientology until about 2019. To our surprise, ex-con flim flammer LRH 2.0 showed up in a Tennessee jail. The real LRH shows up in a new WW2 private diary. We start to get reports about the state of Scientology from “The Insider.”

A LOOK BACK AT NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020: A military vet takes a new, and more thorough, look at L. Ron Hubbard’s “stolen valor.” Julian and Katherine Wain, part of Leah Remini’s extended family, tell their Scientology escape story. Other exes tell the stories of what they would have missed if they’d stayed in the church. The London Ideal Org’s swanky new look. Steve Cannane is victorious in his ridiculous libel trial. Danny Masterson’s sketchy friends are ripe for investigation. The California state supreme court won’t consider Valerie Haney’s petition. Tom Cruise screams at the Mission: Impossible 7 crew over Covid protocols, and Leah Remini weighs in.

A LOOK BACK AT NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019: David Miscavige presided over Ideal Org grand openings in Kansas City and Columbus. Guy White, L. Ron Hubbard’s former son-in-law, goes public for the first time. We said goodbye to Nan McLean and Pete Combs. Beck said he was not a Scientologist, and Leah Remini called it a “pussy move.” “Harlem Homie” is really a new status in the church. Evidence surfaced that Scientology is keeping at least one witness in the Danny Masterson case out of police reach at the Freewinds. A Scientology spy’s interrogation is leaked.

A LOOK BACK AT NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018: We published a 1972 account of his life by L. Ron Hubbard Jr (with Paulette Cooper) that had never before seen the light of day. Clay Irwin sold his bar and tipped us off that Scientology was secretly buying up more property in Clearwater (which Tracey McManus at the Tampa Bay Times proved in a brilliant 2019 investigation). Leah Remini focused on Jehovah’s Witnesses, and then started out her third season about Scientology with the bombshell story of Valerie Haney’s escape from Scientology’s Gold Base. Sunny Pereira revealed the moment she realized Clear doesn’t exist. We interviewed Valerie Haney about about David Miscavige’s private life. Leah exposed the Nation of Islam, and we learned then that Tiponi Grey had died. NOI’s Tony Muhammad then took a slimy jab at Leah. After 68 years, we finally found Sonya Bianchi, L. Ron Hubbard’s first “Clear.”

A LOOK BACK AT NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017: We learned that Aftermath had filmed an episode with Danny Masterson’s accusers that was not going to air. But the second season ended with a stunning reunion. We provided a roadmap for the new president if he was really serious about reviewing Scientology’s tax-exempt status. We wrote about the death of Brad Bufanda and said goodbye to Sinar Parman. We wondered if Bob Duggan had flown the coop, and we made public for the first time the FBI file of former Clearwater mayor Gabe Cazares. We tracked down notorious Snow White spy Michael Meisner, and finished up the year with a heartwarming story of love.

A LOOK BACK AT NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016: Scientologist Vivian Kubrick’s plan to raise money for Shelley Duvall falls apart. David Miscavige’s claim that L. Ron Hubbard brought surfing to California is debunked. Scientology tries to derail the premiere of Leah Remini’s new series with a scummy letter. And Leah’s first “special” episode features Paulette Cooper.

A LOOK BACK AT NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015: Leah Remini’s memoir, Troublemaker, hit bookstores. The Texas Third Court of Appeals handed Monique Rathbun a huge victory that seemed to pave the way for a world of hurt for Scientology. We began a day-by-day look at the final days of Lisa McPherson, 20 years after her tragic death. Tabatha Fauteux became Narconon’s newest victim. Legoland funded a Scientology front group on behalf of Jenna Elfman. And one of our biggest stories of the year, felony charges for Scientologists who had used students from primarily minority high schools in a suburb of LA to scam state insurance money.

A LOOK BACK AT NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014: Leaked plans show that a new $37 million Scientology facility in Australia will serve only 87 people, on average, at any one time. Some great nuggets about L. Ron Hubbard turned up in Robert Heinlein’s letters collection. We learned how Scientology strains to erase Hubbard’s second wife, Sara Northrup, from the historical record, while Hubbard’s first wife, Polly, filed an affidavit that Hubbard was a deadbeat dad. We went long with the surprising saga of Richie Acunto’s rise and fall. And Marty Rathbun gets ambushed again, this time with Louis Theroux.

A LOOK BACK AT NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013: Mike Rinder and Mike Bennitt in a helicopter over the Super Power party, our exclusive interview with Jacqueline Olivier, the principal at Will and Jada’s Scientology school, and we marked the actual 60th anniversary of the first ‘Church of Scientology.’

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Thank you for reading today’s story here at Substack. 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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