YouTuber, actor, and former Scientologist Doug Scott Kramer found dead at 50

During our coverage of the Danny Masterson trials, one of the best experiences we had was being interviewed by Doug Scott Kramer, a former Scientologist and actor who had operated his “Dazed But Not Confuzed” YouTube channel for several years.

We first wrote about Doug in 2021, featuring one of his videos, and in more recent days he had been basing a lot of his videos on our reporting, and giving the Underground Bunker credit.

We thought he was doing very good work, he had a unique voice, and we were glad to know him.

Sadly, we heard from a friend of the family that Monday evening Doug was found unresponsive in his bed in his Studio City home. He had died at the age of 50, and no cause has been listed yet at the county medical examiner’s office and may not for some time. [UPDATE: The county medical examiner has determined that Doug died of arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, and that his smoking was a significant condition.]

In his videos, Doug had talked about his father introducing the family to Scientology when Doug was about 9, and that he was firmly a member of the organization by the time he was 19.

He reached the level of OT 3 (Operating Thetan Level Three) which contains the story about Xenu the galactic overlord, and Doug often cited it as one of his strangest experiences in the organization.

At 33, Doug said he had been given a copy of Steve Hassan’s book Combating Cult Mind Control by a friend, and he said it opened his eyes about Scientology, eventually helping him decide to leave.

Meanwhile, he had pursued a career in acting, and had landed guest roles on television shows such as Nip/Tuck and American Heiress. He said that acting classes had put him in proximity of other Scientology-involved actors, and he talked about the way Scientology caters to them.

He also spoke about the ways that Scientology’s indoctrination was so insidious.

“Scientologists in general aren’t inherently ‘evil’ or ‘bad’ people or anything, far from it usually — they are decent people who are unknowingly brainwashed people, as harsh as that may sound — and there’s a world of difference between the two in my opinion,” he wrote during a Reddit ‘Ask Me Anything’ in 2019.

“And the key feature about being brainwashed is you won’t be able to detect that within yourself and will dismiss it and laugh off the notion entirely. But it doesn’t change the facts of the situation they are in — Hubbard was first and foremost an expert hypnotist, this is what keeps people from being able to snap out of it, perceive the obvious, and leave.”

We’re glad that Doug did get out, and that he educated so many people about the dangers of Scientology.

“I’d known him since he was a teenager. I was his ethics officer. He was a handful,” says former Scientologist Tammy Synovec. “He grew into a very intelligent adult. When he explained Scientology to people, he did a lot to expose the damage it does.”

"I loved Doug like a brother, and yes, sometimes we fought like brothers,” says former Scientologist Marcus Sawyer, who did numerous episodes with Doug that explained the intricacies of how Scientology worked. "I believe we did help people, breaking down how the TRs can induce trance states. And we celebrated being wrong about all that when we were in."

We will miss him.

UPDATE: Tammy has provided some additional details.

I want to clear up any rumors of foul play or suicide and also explain why a wellness check was not done sooner.

Doug's mom did not know he was missing until this Sunday afternoon when I contacted her. I had only learned that he was "missing" that day myself.

After no response to her emails and calls to him, she became worried and called the apartment manager on Monday morning. It was unusual for him not to return her calls.

It is apparently not so easy to get the police to do a wellness check. It took her several calls to the landlord to set up a wellness check. Meanwhile we waited. After not hearing from anyone for a few hours she contacted the police, who did not see the need for a wellness check, until she explained the urgency. Once they understood the situation better, the landlord and police worked together to get into his apartment where Doug was found dead in his bed. There was no evidence of foul play or suicide.

He had been in touch with his mother for quite a while (since his dad's passing in March) and spoke to her the previous week about taking baby steps to rebuild their relationship. They were making plans to get together in person after the holidays and he told her he was looking forward to that.

We are not sure if there will be an autopsy yet. His mom is only now letting the rest of the family know of his passing.

Please allow them time and space to make arrangements and grieve their loss.

I hope this helps answer some questions.

He will be missed by many.

— Tammy Synovec

UPDATE: The county medical examiner has determined that Doug died of arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, and that his smoking was a significant condition.

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