RB has been under the weather a bit. Thus, an oldie but goodie... … [Read more...]
Scientology Coming (Further) Unhinged
A recent article by Joe Nolfi for Entertainment Weekly elicited a pretty unhinged response from scientology. The article springboarded off Leah's appearance on Ron Miscavige's podcast Life After Scientology where she and Ron discussed the upcoming Season 3. Scientology's crazy response is a study in "never defend, always attack" mentality (see my earlier blog post for a lengthier discussion of this topic Dealing With Critics of Scientology): When reached for comment on Remini’s Life After Scientology comments, a representative for the church told EW: “Even a cursory review of this … [Read more...]
A Message from Leah Remini to Scientology Operatives
Dear OSA, OSA operatives, paid off sleazy PI’s and lawyers who are bought off by Scientology, I know you are reading this because you scour our instagrams, FB Pages and twitter feeds all day and night. I also understand you are bound to follow the writings of L. Ron Hubbard which require you to discover what someone considers valuable and attack it, to "fight on the basis of total attrition of the enemy" and treat those who speak the truth about you as "Fair Game." But you should also know that what you are doing, including: -- the legal threats -- paying off family members with … [Read more...]
Clearwater Follies
Leah and I were speaking with our old friend Mark Bunker, who was telling us about the injunction scientology obtained against him and other members of the Lisa McPherson Trust back in 1998. Amazingly, scientology still seeks to enforce this injunction against him to this day – its language prevents him from protesting in front of some specified scientology buildings and from coming within 10 feet of any scientologist (it’s a mystery how he is supposed to know who is or isn’t a scientologist…) but they tried to get him thrown out of his condo because a scientologist lived next door, and … [Read more...]
Scientology TV Fail
There have been some marvelous takes on scientology tv, and I have included just a few of my favorites here. But there is a HUGE missing piece. If this is the most important and monumental thing in the history of scientology and Miscavige himself "emerged from witness protection" to introduce it, where are the other big names? THE thing that most people know about scientology, above and beyond anything else, is that it has celebrity members. And a bunch of them are even TELEVISION stars. How can scientology TV not have ANY of their celebrities participating? Not even a cameo ad? … [Read more...]
Scientology and TV
Scientology is taking to the airwaves (sort of) tonight. It's interesting times. They put out a press release that resulted in this story in THR: This story highlights just a few of their problems. They have nobody willing to talk to the media, and apparently these days, nobody willing to respond in any way. Not the recipe for success in this field. Every story that mentions scientology tv is going to mention Going Clear and The Aftermath -- that favor will not be returned. Scientology TV is a novelty that will be forgotten fast. A quick scan of the comments on this … [Read more...]
The Aftermath Foundation
As scientology prepares to launch SuMP TV, we are launching something we believe will be far more beneficial and hopefully grow to have even greater impact. Scientology and the Aftermath has exposed many abuses commonplace in scientology. Harsh punishment, child and sexual abuse, enforced disconnection from family members and much more… Were it not for the fact that they are able to hide behind the cloak of First Amendment law, they would likely already have been dismantled. There is not a great deal the general public can do. I have often answered the question "how can we help" by telling … [Read more...]
The Scientology “Debunked Conspiracy Theory” Response
Scientology sent a statement to the press about our Paul Haggis post. As with everything in scientology's PR denial closet, you have to read it closely and parse its terminology carefully. Scientology mastered the technique of "depends upon what the meaning of the word 'is' is" long before Bill Clinton came along. Here is the statement in the Hollywood Reporter: In a statement, the Church of Scientology responded to Remini and Rinder's letter. The Church's full response is below: Leah Remini, Paul Haggis and Mike Rinder have predictably thrown up a reprehensible smokescreen to turn … [Read more...]
Concerning Paul Haggis
There is plenty of reason to worry about defending anyone accused of sexual assault in today’s climate. But the fear of consequences for speaking our truth has not held us back in the past and isn’t about to start now. We have supported victims of sexual abuse who have reached out to us and have worked with them and law enforcement to ensure justice is done for both victims and the accused. We have avoided trial by media. In this time of heightened awareness of sexual predators, it is easy to remain quiet when an injustice is being perpetrated for fear of being tarred as politically … [Read more...]
Scientology, Danny Masterson and Law Enforcement
CNN picked up on the Danny Masterson story. It includes a denial from "DJ Donkey Punch" and a shout out to Tony Ortega: "News of the allegations date back to March when journalist and former Village Voice editor Tony Ortega wrote on his site, "The Underground Bunker," that Masterson was being investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department" and to Leah: "actress Leah Remini and her A&E show "Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath" helped bring the accusations to light when one of the alleged victims shared her story with Remini." But most interesting … [Read more...]