On Saturday, we took you inside the troubled Scientology drug treatment center in eastern Oklahoma, Narconon Arrowhead. Three deaths have occurred at the center since October, and the most recent of them, Stacy Murphy, 20, was found on the morning of July 19. A former patient of the center who kn ... More >>
This weekend, we published a two-part story about the rather amazing 32-year Scientology career of John Brousseau, whose adventures included driving for L. Ron Hubbard, spending time in the Sea Org's prison program the RPF, and working in the Cruise household with Tom and Katie Holmes. What seemed ... More >>
I've spoken to John Brousseau numerous times over the past couple of years. In 2011, I reported about the photographs he smuggled out of Scientology's International Base east of Los Angeles which documented the work he did customizing a motorcycle, a Ford Excursion, and an airplane hangar for Tom Cr ... More >>
To even begin to explain why it's significant that a Texas man named Bert Leahy and a Montreal man named David Edgar Love are going to meet up in the godforsaken town of Canadian, Oklahoma on August 25 would probably strain most news organizations. But we have an advantage: Bert Leahy and David Lov ... More >>
David Jentzsch, 80, tells me that the last time he spoke to his brother Heber, 76, was about three years ago. And at that time he urged his younger brother to break out of Scientology's International Base near Hemet, California. "He said, 'I don't think I can ever get out of here.' But I told him, ... More >>
Between 2004 and 2007, Scientology experienced several defections by high-ranking executives who later wrote books about breaking away from what they characterized as a dangerous and pathological organization. But for many of us who watch Scientology, it is one defector in particular whose story we ... More >>
On Sunday, we talked to former Scientology executive Marty Rathbun and agreed with his predictions for how the Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes divorce would go. The next day, the former couple announced that they had reached a settlement. So how did we do? Prediction 1: Katie would get sole custody of Suri ... More >>
[UPDATE: Think Scientology spying and harassment is a thing of the past? Check out our new story about how the church even spies on its most prominent member, Tom Cruise.] I couldn't think of a better way to give thanks this year than to pay homage to the woman who was there first, paid the highest ... More >>
Xenu hates sterile cubes, for some reasonOne of the first things people ask me when they hear that I cover Scientology on a regular basis is whether I've been targeted for harassment by the church. Despite some evidence that the church does intend to "handle" me, I've been left alone for th ... More >>
On August 5, we started a countdown that will give credit -- or blame -- to the people who have contributed most to the sad current state of Scientology. From its greatest expansion in the 1980s, the church is a shell of what it once was and is mired in countless controversies around the worl ... More >>
In both of the two major books about Scientology coming out this summer, Janet Reitman's Inside Scientology, and Hugh Urban's academic history, The Church of Scientology, we noticed that Nancy Many shows up multiple times. And no wonder: the former Scientologist has lived an amazing life. She ... More >>
Marc Headley now knows which of his friends were spiesUpdate after the jump: More OSA documents that explain the goals for OSA spies, as well as instructions for how to get your flight information! For Scientology watchers, one of the reasons this is a particularly exciting time is that we'r ... More >>
Richard LeibyAfter the jump, Leiby's ex-wife, Theresa Defino, responds to Marty Rathbun's allegation that she 'caved' to Scientology in its anti-Leiby efforts. Story originally published at 12:16 pm. Marty Rathbun has done it again. The top former Scientology figure who left the "church" in ... More >>
Former high-level Scientologist Marty Rathbun revealed fascinating material yesterday on his blog: he claims that it's evidence of a detailed "dark ops" program launched in 2006 by Scientology to destroy a woman named Tory Christman, who had left the organization several years earlier. I kno ... More >>
