Earlier today we wrapped up our year-in-review for another huge annual trip around the sun here at the Underground Bunker. Now, let’s finish 2022 with some real treats.
Observer’s favorite shoops of 2022
Observer, who does our posters and is a great shoop (Photoshop edit) artist in her own right, chose six of the illos in our comments section that she enjoyed the most. (In no particular order.)
From Mark Parry-Maddocks…
Nothing to See Here…
Phil Jones…
OTVIIIisGrrr8!…
JSwift…
Mark Parry-Maddocks…
BEST OF THE BUNKER, 2022
For the last six 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. Scientology ties with Satanism for worst religion in America
Like we said when we wrote about this YouGov poll, this was a great chuckle right at the end of the year. A sample of 1,000 Americans were asked about which religious groups they were favorable to, and at the very bottom of the list, tied for being the most reviled, were Scientology and Satanism! We were happy to have it confirmed that Scientology’s abuses are not being ignored by the public.
19. Hanan Islam dies at 62, Rizza Islam will face trial alone
We first broke the news in 2015 that Hanan Islam and her children were facing serious felony charges, accused of bilking the Medi-Cal insurance program in an elaborate scheme run out of a Narconon-like clinic at the World Literacy Crusade, a notorious Scientology front in Compton, California. Delay after delay has pushed trial back, and now Hanan won’t have to go through what could have been her third felony conviction: She died of cancer this year. And her son Rizza Islam, an infamous Nation of Islam/Scientology figure, will have to face trial alone in March.
18. Audio leak: David Miscavige announcing the ‘Golden Age of Admin’
For the first time in several years, we received an audio recording of Scientology leader David Miscavige. He was recorded at the L. Ron Hubbard Birthday Event held this march at the Fort Harrison Hotel, centerpiece of the Flag Land Base in Clearwater, Florida. Miscavige was announcing his latest, and dullest, new “technology” advance in several years: The Golden Age of Admin!
17. Eddie Deezen arrested and committed
One of the sadder stories that we got to break this year was that Eddie Deezen was arrested again, and now his legal troubles are even more serious. The Grease and Wargames actor has been acting more erratically than ever, and this time he ended up being committed. We can only hope he gets over his Scientology background and accepts the mental health care that he so obviously needs.
16. Dr. Eric Berg sued by former employee for forcing Scientology on her
Eric Berg is a chiropractor and major influencer on YouTube, where he’s known for dispensing medical advice. But he’s also a major Scientology donor, and we learned this year that he was being sued by a former employee for forcing Scientology on her. We notified Berg’s son, Ian Rafalko, who told us he was eager to help out the woman suing his dad. The next day after our story came out, Berg made the lawsuit go away with a settlement.
15. The shocking suicide of Whitney Mills
Just before the end of the year we got our hands on a police report about a very disturbing death in Clearwater, Florida. An OT 8 Scientologist named Whitney Mills had set herself on fire and then shot herself on May 12, resulting in her death about a day and a half later. The police report included references to Scientology and what appeared to be attempts by Mills to get help with her physical and mental health issues. Once again, Scientology turns out to be the worst thing for someone in actual need of professional help.
14. Andreas Heldal-Lund faces his mortality
Those of us who keep an eye on Scientology have owed so much to Andreas Heldal-Lund over the years. The congenial Norwegian started up one of the most influential websites for exposing Scientology’s abuses, “Operation Freakout,” in 1996, and he’s long been a good friend of the Underground Bunker. But now we had sobering news about the cancer diagnosis he had revealed on social media, and he talked frankly with us about the short time that doctors tell him he has left.
13. Bruce Hines on the death of his sister, and auditing Mary Sue
Once again this year we were the beneficiaries of generous contributions from former Scientologists who wrote some dynamite narratives about their previous lives. We were especially knocked out by pieces by Bruce Hines about the death of his sister, and about auditing Mary Sue Hubbard during her years of house arrest. But we are also grateful to Louise Shekter and Sunny Pereira for their well-written pieces about Scientology life as well.
12. The Masterson accusers replace their civil attorneys, gear up for battle
You may remember that it was a vaunted national legal team based out of Philadelphia that filed the lawsuit for Masterson’s accusers in 2019, and that we documented a number of less than stellar moves by those attorneys. Well, the Jane Does themselves apparently had second thoughts about their representation, and in February Jane Doe 1 replaced the Philly team with Brad Edwards, a noted Jeffrey Epstein tormentor, and then in November Jane Doe 2 and Jane Doe 3 did likewise, hiring the David Boies firm. Now these women really have heavy hitters on their side.
11. Tommy Davis accosts trial witnesses on a Soho street corner
While we were in LA covering the Danny Masterson trial, we broke a bizarre story that happened on the east coast: Tommy Davis had accosted the ex-wife and daughter of Paul Haggis on a Soho street! Davis was apparently so upset about testimony about him at that Haggis trial going on there in New York, he thought a sidewalk confrontation with a couple of trial witnesses was a good idea. Oh, Tommy.
10. Scientology loses members in Australia and England census reports
England and Australia released their census numbers this year, with both countries showing large and steady overall population growth. Both countries also ask residents about their religious affiliation, and in each of these nations the number of Scientologists actually went down over the past ten years. So instead of the “expansion” that the church talks about, here again is documented proof that Scientology is steadily dwindling.
9. Scientology shows up in the Masterson criminal case
In February, as Danny Masterson’s attorneys were preparing to present a motion to dismiss the rape charges against their client, an attorney for the Church of Scientology — which is not a party in that criminal case — showed up and asked to be heard. Attorney Bill Forman informed the court that his client, the church, was very upset by things Masterson’s criminal judge, Judge Charlaine Olmedo, had said about Scientology and its policy. Forman’s whine didn’t sway the court, but just the fact that Scientology itself had showed up at a Masterson criminal matter was extraordinary, we thought. How else could it appear except for this “religious organization” showing up to support an accused serial rapist?
8. The Sirens Media series on Scientology that never aired
After we started up our podcast in June, we knew what subject we wanted to cover in a special short series: The best TV show on Scientology that never aired. For a few years we’ve been curious about the series that Sirens Media shot for the A&E network that was never shown. And now we learned so much more about it thanks to Phil Jones, Derek Bloch, Carol Nyburg, Katrina Reyes, and especially to the man who was going to be the show’s presenter and who had never spoken publicly about the before, Jamie DeWolf. What an amazing time we had speaking to him.
7. Valerie Haney nominates Elisabeth Moss and Tom Cruise in legal case
When a judge made it clear to Valerie Haney that she had to go through Scientology’s ridiculous “religious arbitration” farce or lose her lawsuit altogether, she knew she was stuck: She’d have to nominate someone as an “arbitrator.” So she registered her protest first by nominating Elisabeth Moss, and when Scientology said no, she then nominated Tom Cruise and Shelly Miscavige. Scientology whined that she wasn’t taking things seriously, but we applaud Valerie for the way she’s sticking up for herself.
6. New labor trafficking lawsuit by Valeska Paris and the Baxters
On April 28, Valeska Paris and another Australian couple, Gawain and Laura Baxter, filed a major new lawsuit against Scientology in federal court in Tampa. They allege that they were forced into the Sea Org as children and then abused horribly as children and adults as workers on the cruise ship Freewinds. Scientology has responded the way you would expect, by trying to derail the case with motions to compel arbitration, but the case has also garnered attention because of the way David Miscavige has evaded service.
5. Masterson lawsuit restored as appeals court denies Scientology ‘arbitration’
Maybe the biggest single court ruling this year was the stunning January 19 decision by a California appeals court restoring the lawsuit filed by the Danny Masterson accusers against Scientology. The church had convinced a lower court that the Masterson accusers didn’t have a right to sue since they had signed contracts as Scientologists. But the appeals court pointed out that the harm they were alleging — the surveillance, hacking, and even the poisoning of pets — was occurring after they had left the church. Scientology was livid about it and took it all the way to the US Supreme Court, which declined to get involved.
4. Mike Rinder's book A Billion Years makes waves
In September, Mike Rinder’s book ‘A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology’ hit bookstores, and we were the first out with a full-length review. We liked the book a lot, and we marveled at how much Scientology history Mike managed to cram into this thing. We also discussed with Jon Atack where Mike’s book belonged in the pantheon, and then talked to Mike himself for a special Thanksgiving podcast.
3. Leah Remini takes on corruption at the LAPD
While we were in Los Angeles covering the Danny Masterson trial, stunning news broke about Cory Palka, a retired LAPD captain that we had long known was a Scientology shill in the Hollywood Division, which he ran. The new information showed that he’d killed a sexual assault investigation involving CBS honcho Les Moonves, someone Palka had worked for in security. The corruption was just off the charts, and Leah Remini wanted the LAPD to investigate Palka’s relationship with Scientology as well. Her tweets on it went viral, and then she talked about it to us for our most-heard podcast episode ever.
2. Kirstie Alley dies of colon cancer at 71
The stunning news that Kirstie Alley had died after a “short battle” with what turned out to be colon cancer naturally led to mass speculation about how her longtime involvement in Scientology might have affected her approach to the disease. Rolling Stone magazine asked us to review Kirstie’s Scientology career, which included her ascension to OT 8. Meanwhile, we managed to confirm that only a small private memorial was held for her at the Flag Land Base in Clearwater, California, and nothing was done at the Hollywood Celebrity Centre, where she had been such a fixture.
1. The Danny Masterson trial in Los Angeles, October 11 - November 30
We first broke the news that Danny Masterson was being investigated by the LAPD back in March, 2017, and we had covered every step of that investigation. So when trial finally began on October 11 in Los Angeles, we’d been preparing for a long time. And with cameras not allowed in the courtroom, we knew we had a unique opportunity: We ended up simply typing everything we could that was said in the courtroom, doing our best to put readers there. It was effective, and we had a huge audience throughout the trial. Some of the highlights: We broke the news that the prosecution was planning to call Lisa Marie Presley and Marty Singer (and then ended up calling neither of them). We spotted a known Scientology spy in the court hallway, and talking to the prosecutor, of all people. We reported on everything testified to by the three Jane Doe accusers, of course, but we also reported on, and named, Jane Doe 4, who was actress Tricia Vessey, with her approval. There was also the Breakfast Burrito Scandal, when Judge Olmedo dared to show the reporters covering jury deliberations a little consideration. And then the mistrial itself, when the jury couldn’t reach verdicts on any of the three counts. After that, we still had a few more bombshells: The police statement by Damian Perkins, an eyewitness to Jane Doe 1’s allegations who was never called. An interview, with Chris Shelton, of the jury foreman who explained how the jury was so deadlocked. And then a podcast with Jane Doe 4, Tricia Vessey, about what it was like to testify.
Whew, what a year! And tonight, at midnight, we have a special treat for you, as we explain in the video above. We hope you enjoy it!
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.
Top 20 Underground Bunker stories of 2022 — and Observer's favorite shoops!