I was looking through old scientology shows and came across this one from 2010. I had not watched it in many years, but found it fascinating. Obviously, my views about scientology have changed. But I have a much greater appreciation for the show now having worked on 3 seasons of Scientology and The Aftermath. This is a terrific piece of investigative reporting and a finely crafted show that contains a LOT of information. John Sweeney and his brilliant producer Sarah Mole did a masterful job of putting this together. They battled with the legal constraints imposed on them by the … [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...]
Scientology: Hollywood Reporter Writer Is Like Goebbels
Apparently, Seth Abramovitch of the Hollywood Reporter has caused some serious butthurt in the scientology world. A couple of recent articles seem to have put him on the Enemies List and scientology has responded in their typically understated fashion. On one of scientology's many Facebook smear pages, they repeatedly posted this: I guess the irony of this being posted on their own Facebook hate page "Leah Remini #AfterCash" never occurred to them? They keep repeating the big lie that Aftermath is about money... It must be obvious to even THEM by now that this docuseries does not … [Read more...]
Aftermath: Continued
I am cheating -- this is not really a "post," I am simply directing you to read this new article in Entertainment Weekly. I am traveling which has hindered my blogging abilities. And also, I saw a dozen fake twitter accounts sent out tweets about me this morning, so I figured they must be going nuts about something. I checked the news and this story is at the top of the Scientology newsfeed on Google. I figured this was the cause of their latest bout of ad hominem bleating, so it deserved wider coverage. It's my middle finger of the morning to the evil empire. Read the article … [Read more...]
How To Handle “Negative News”
Here is an email circulating in the scientology bubble. From: Vern Jones Sent: Friday, March 03 Subject: Handling Entheta in the News I recently have been experimenting with handling the amount of entheta news displayed on the CNN home page I use. As most know, home pages usually carry an array of news stories in various categories. I suspect that they keep stats (numbers of hits or clicks) and then increase the selection to similar ones to those that receive the greatest number of hits or clicks. This is an online marketing method that I am convinced is also used for the … [Read more...]
Pat Harney — Scientology’s Last “PR”?
Perhaps the only scientology "PR" who is still operating anywhere these days is Pat Harney in Clearwater. Though she doesn't make live media appearances or even answer live media questions (witness her scurrying away when she came to "confront" one of the Producers of The Aftermath while they were shooting on the sidewalk - and refusing to even give her name) - she will dash off a Letter to the Editor every now and then, as long as it's not to one of the "known SP media" outlets (looking at you Tampa Bay Times). Pat is the last of a dying breed. Karin Pouw is just a name used to put on … [Read more...]
Scientology Shill Joy Villa Plays the Trump Card
Unabashed self-promoter and scientology pitch-woman Joy Villa has cashed in on political divisiveness to make a killing from unsuspecting Trump supporters. Ms. Villa has previously attempted to attract attention at the Grammy's by wearing various forms of see-through attire. Her virtual nakedness didn't garner a lot of attention other than to get her onto the "worst-dressed" list. But this year, she hit on a brilliant scheme, marketing herself as a walking advertisement for Donald Trump. In a town and industry that has little love for anything Republican, and plenty of … [Read more...]
Miscavige Musings & Mutterings
This drivel is a full page in the latest edition of Impact magazine - the IAS propaganda organ. You sort of get the idea what he is trying to say. The strange metaphors that are Shermanspeak specialties make it difficult to fathom, sort of like the front porch of eternity or whatever that idiocy was. The great Mr. David Miscavige is trying very hard to portray himself as some sort of humanitarian. Such hypocrisy. Not only does he personally infringe on people's rights with reckless abandon, he oversees an organization that abides by articles of faith to: Destroy its enemies by any means … [Read more...]
Dealing with Critics of Scientology – The L. Ron Hubbard Playbook
If you read this blog, you are likely aware of Leah Remini's upcoming A&E show. I have had the pleasure of working with Leah on this show as a consultant and participant, a cause of great distress for the church. So I thought I might weigh in with some information I feel is pertinent to events now and into the future. As a reader here you are likely also aware of the "church" reaction to the announcement of the show and the first trailer being released - the usual name-calling, smearing and foot stomping that does not RESPOND in any fashion to the abuses being exposed. There is much … [Read more...]
The Young Turks
The Young Turks is a VERY popular source of news for millennials (and others) on YouTube. This is their take on SuMP -- and while they still repeated some of the falsehoods that appeared in the Mail Online story, their take on scientology in general is a pretty good reflection of how it is viewed in the world. You will see they recommend everyone view Going Clear. Miscavige's Latest Ribbon Yanking Though the Underground Bunker covered the ribbon yanking in Clearwater this morning, I had a couple of points to note. I happened to drive by Flag yesterday on my way home and was … [Read more...]