
Queen here, I decided to compile a list of Scientology’s most memorable moments blunders of 2009. This will be my final article…so I thought I would leave with a bang!
I wasn’t able to include EVERYTHING or all the pending court cases, as the list was way too LONG.
Sorry if the time line is not entirely correct by the exact month and the events may not be in exact chronological order and I am sure I left out some things, so feel free to contribute and list whatever I missed in the comments section. Please click on the various links in this article, to read further.
The list below, is definitely tl:dr, but after all, it is an entire year of Scientology fail, and there was plenty of it!
Thankfully, and as always, Scientology has brought on this bad publicity and pending court cases themselves. They will be responsible for their own demise.
Let’s start the 2009 time line with the tragic death of John Travolta’s son, Jett.

This tragedy opened up many doors, that Scientology would have liked to have kept shut.
I think it is important to remind people of this story. I feel there were too many puzzling questions in this story, that didn’t make any sense and remain unanswered.
Jett was Travolta’s 16 year old son who had autism. Many people never knew he existed because Jett was kept out of the limelight. Or shall I say hidden from the limelight.
Jett suffered from epileptic seizures. According to Travolta and wife Kelly Preston, Jett was taken off his anti-seizure medication, claiming it wasn’t working for him and that it was harmful to his liver. Ironically, Jett’s parents put him on the Purification Rundown, which can be very harmful to the liver.
Scientology believes that this treatment can cure many problems. Even though there has never been any medical or scientific proof that Scientology’s Purification Rundown has any benefits what so ever. In fact it has been called pseudo science and quackery. Disturbingly, this treatment is administered by untrained staff with no medical backgrounds.
I am amazed that Scientology is still able to offer this treatment legally. This treatment is also goes under the names Narconon, Criminon and other Scientology front group names.
Travolta and Preston admitted to taking Jett off his anti seizure medication and putting him on Scientology’s Purification Rundown. Jett then began suffering from seizures every 1-4 days.
John and Kelly flew to the Bahamas for a 60 person New Year’s Eve party they had planned. I will never understand why they flew to the Bahamas to have a party, when Jett was suffering from so many seizures so often.
They traveled with two male nannies who did not have medical backgrounds or proper training for a special needs child. Didn’t anyone find this strange? The night of Jett’s death, he was left unattended for over 10 hours. He had a seizure, fell and hit his head and died.
Tabloids began speculating whether this was a case of negligence, and whether or not Jett would still be alive today, if he was put on a different seizure medication and if his parents were not Scientologists.
From the tragic death of their son, emerged a much publicized court case of alleged extortion.
John and Kelly cried “extortion”, and claimed that defendants tried to extort a large sum of many from them in exchange for some alleged damaging documents relating to Jett’s death.
Although the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Jett is not what the court case is about, there are still too many unanswered questions concerning the death of Jett.
The following questions should have been investigated. Why did the body of Jett have such a quickie cremation? Why did Travolta and Preston have two male Scientologist nannies who were void of medical or special needs training? One of the nannies was Jeff Kathrein, who was photographed previously kissing Travolta. Strange…
Why was Travolta’s son left unattended for over 10 hours after last being seen entering the bathroom? Why weren’t the two nannies
investigated or interviewed by authorities or questioned by the media? Especially the fact that Jeff Kethrein, was the one that found Jett dead at 10 am the next morning. Where were the two nannies when they were supposed to be watching Jett the night he fell?
Why didn’t Preston and Travolta hire round-the-clock care by highly TRAINED medical professionals for their son? Money certainly wasn’t an issue. Why was Jett put on the very dangerous Scientology Purification Rundown in the first place? AND how was a 16-year autistic child made to endure such long hours in saunas for weeks at a time and ingesting oil and dangerous mega vitamin bombs of niacin?
How was this obviously arduous task achieved? Strange?
Some day, someone will come forward and spill all the beans. I hope this mystery doesn’t get swept under the rug. We may never know the true answers to what, why and how this all happened, due to Travolta’s fame and fortune. Very sad.
The Travolta “extortion” court case continues in the Bahamas in Jan 2010. It will be interesting to see what further shenanigans Scientology lawyers will pull in court and the outcome to this complete and utter MESS. Stock up on popcorn!
Another court case which was previously filed against a Scientology dentist which was settled. Reported in the Chicago Tribune:
“A Chicago dentist has agreed to pay$462,500 to settle federal allegations that he violated U.S. discrimination laws by sexually harassing workers and by forcing employees who wanted to keep their jobs to submit to indoctrination in the tenets of Scientology.”
On to the following months.
FEBRUARY brought the ban of Scientology in the Karaganda region in Kazakhstan.
Then another big court case hit.
This time, it was filed against Scientology.
Former Scientology members Claire and Marc Headley. They filed against Scientology for unfair labor practices. They claimed:
“they were paid less than 50 cents an hour and forced to work more than 100 hours a week. They claim they never received overtime pay or meal breaks and were required to sign documents under duress acknowledging they had forfeited their rights.”
FYI, Scientology’s Sea Organization, is supposed to be the most elite. They are also the most dedicated members of Scientology. Unfortunately, the Sea Org members are also the most abused.
If you asked the general public what the Sea Org is, most people wouldn’t know. But hopefully, more and more people are starting to learn about this abused sect behind Scientology.
The sad stories from former ex members are coming out more and more these days. Many ex members still live in fear, do to Scientology’s family disconnection policies and Scientology’s litigious nature of silencing their critics. Scientology is finally starting to lose this war and they will find it impossible to silence the new onslaught of ex members coming forward with their stories.
In Florida, a mom filed a suit against Scientology, claiming that her son Kyle Brennan died at the hands of Scientology because the father who was a Scientologist denied the son his anti depression medication. The father tried to put his son Kyle into a Narconon drug treatment program. (Narconon is a Scientology front group name and the exact same treatment that Travolta’s son Jett was put through)
Sadly, Kyle ended his life by shooting himself. Yet another tragic Scientology related death. Click for a copy of that case.
Another blow to Scientology in February, was the release of ex Scientology Sea Org member John Duigan’s book, The Complex. A very damaging book that tells the sad story of his escape from Scientology, after being a member for twenty two years.
It was also announced that Marc Headley’s book, Blown For Good, Behind The Iron Curtain Of Scientology was set to hit book stores later in the year.
The veil of secrecy continued to lift, with the story of ex member Jeff Hawkins, who spent more than 40 years in the cult and was interviewed by many media outlets and ABC’s KATU news.
Anti Scientology critics, Mark Bunker and Doug Owens were arrested at Scientology’s Golden Era Productions aka Gold Base for “trespassing” while attending a protest there. They were walking across the driveway of the gate to Gold Base, when Scientology spokesperson Catherine Fraser (who was present) had them arrested by citizen’s arrest. Oh Catherine, Barney Phife would have loved you. *snicker*
The kicker of this arrest is, that both Mark and Doug were not on Scientology’s property. The charges were of course later dropped due to lack of evidence. (what a surprise)
Another prime example of the cult taking up police time and tax payers money with frivolous arrests. Scientology should have been charged for making false arrests and fined.
There was another arrest at Gold Base for another Scientology protester who goes by the name of “Angy Gay Pope”. He was arrested at Gold base for “stomping on the cult’s pansies”. I kid you not.
See the day of the protest, the cult turned sprinklers on the protesters, even though there was a watering ban in effect that day for that area. Of course the cult was never fined for this crime. WHY?
To avoid the sprinkler’s water, “Pope” walked through “their” pansy patch. Catherine Fraser once again called for a citizen’s arrest, and had him taken to the pokey. AGAIN… the cult wasting police time and tax payer’s money. Is anyone paying attention here?
FYI… the pansies were not planted on cult property to begin with, and in a preliminary hearing the cult claimed that the patch of pansies cost them $1,000!!! *snort* This case continues in Jan. 2010. Stay tuned!
February saw Nancy Cartwright caught using Bart Simpson’s voice to “robo call” Scientology members for a Scientology event. Cartwright is of course the voice of Bart Simpson. Her robo message said the event was “going to be a blast man!”
Simpson’s creator, Matt Goering didn’t have much to say about this escapade by Cartwright, nor did he do anything about it. Major pussy IMO. Sorry Matt, you really disappointed me!
All the more reason I will never watch the Simpson’s!
MARCH found Scientologists Gretta Van Susteren and hubby lawyer John P. Coale getting awful cozy with Palin. (this was way before Palin the ”Maverick” went “rogue” *snicker*).
Nathan Baca of KESQ TV, interviewed Scientology cult spokesman Tommy Davis. During the interview, Davis admitted that he knew what Baca was talking about when Baca started to read the story of Xenu and OTIII. (a level in Scientology’s Bridge To Total Freedom)
The cult has always denied OTIII’s existence. As a matter of fact, in an earlier interview on CNN, Davis DENIED knowing about Xenu and OTIII and said it was ridiculous. Here is a back to back video that someone put together on YouTube of the two interviews. (don’t mind the little silly things that were added) You can see for yourself, that Davis indeed lied during the CNN interview. What a great “church”!
Back to Baca’s interview….
Davis became very heated during the interview and claimed he was very insulted by Baca’s questions. It was a classic. And worth the view. Click here and enjoy!

Baca also reported on how Riverside County, Ca. officials got involved with the fight between the group Anonymous and Scientology at Golden Era Productions aka Gold Base. Matters where brought up at the board of supervisor meetings, which eventually lead to Supervisor Jeff Stone (Mr. Arrogance) pushing through Ordinance 884, which was about restricting targeted residential picketing. This ordinance was not needed and of course it was introduced to Stone by Scientology. What a surprise! Click here to watch.
Baca continued being a thorn in Scientology’s side when he interviewed ex Sea Org members. Maureen Bolstad and others told their sad stories of abuse. (Maureen says she still has a twin sister trapped inside Gold Base) Click here to watch Part one. Part Two
In other news, many grotesque pictures and stories started circulating the tabloids of Katie Holmes and how God awful she looked from being on Scientology’s Purification Rundown. She looked pale, skinny and like she aged twenty years. Nice going Tom!

Then came a real sneaky Scientology move by another one of their famous members.
Performer Beck, pulled a fast one on his fans at The Echo club in California. He played a “benefit” for Educating Children International. But fans soon found out that they plunked down $35.00 a pop for a Scientology front group benefit. Fans were NOT happy that they were never told it was Scientology related. Beck received some very deserved bad PR for pulling the wool over his fan’s eyes. Wonder where all that money ended up anyways?
The March merriment continued….
Scientology’s Fort Harrison Hotel aka Flag, gets a “supposed” $40 million dollar face lift and has a grand re-opening to the chagrin of local residents. (although today the Fort Harrison’s assessment has dropped down to an alarming low) Blame it on recession? Hmmm, don’t think so.
The Fort Harrison promised that it was going to be beneficial to the residents of Clearwater and help to bring life and commerce back to that area. Didn’t happen. Their banquet facilities are not available for rent to the public and their restaurants are not open to the public either. And the icing on the cake? There was that not one local resident hired for employment for the Harrison, due to the fact that the entire staff of the Fort Harrison is employed with Scientology’s very own Sea Org slave labor force. Scientology does not pay their slave labor anywhere close to minimum wage. Try $35.00 – $50.00 a week. That’s when and if they get paid.
I guess Scientology is just too darn busy spending money by opening up new “orgs” elsewhere and paying for their advertising campaigns to worry about paying fair wages, having decent food for their employees or medical care for that matter.
And does the cult pay any taxes on the Fort Harrison? Again… is anyone paying attention?
Tell me again the benefit of having the Fort Harrison Hotel and the Super Power building in Clearwater? The Super Power Building *snicker* remains unfinished (sorry cult members who got duped into donating millions for this fail).
The Super Power Buidling is also racking up $250.00 a day in fines for not being finished. And as of last March 2009, the fines owed by the cult to the town were over $245 thousand dollars. Maybe that is where all the Scientology member’s donations will end up going? To pay off fines? Yep! Clearing the planet! *scam alert*
APRIL! Scientologist, Ben Kasle was arrested and charged with two counts of gross sexual misconduct with a 13 year old girl at the “church”. Even though he only received a slap on the wrist for his crime in my opinion, I hope Ben has learned that you should only touch your own body thetans,and not under age gals.
Then another court case arises!
Former Scientology member, Laura DeCrescenzo filed against Scientology. Click for her case.
From Infinite Complacency about the lawsuit:
“DeCrescenzo is seeking her back pay, damages, the formal cancellation of any illegal documents she signed while on staff and an injunction against Scientology to prevent them either bribing or intimidating potential witnesses in her case.”
MAY was a busy month.
France charged Scientology’s six top officials with fraud and illegally practicing as pharmacists. Two out of the four plantiffs who filed cases against Scientology, settled out of court. (grumble).
Former member, Aude-Claire Malton, claimed she was forced by her Scientologist boss to do auditing, and when she refused, she was fired. Nice going!
Of course this is not the first time Scientology has been in trouble in France. A little refresher:
“As in the five previous cases France brought against Scientologists, prosecutors are focusing on charges and evidence of the organization’s manipulating members to wring money out of them — not on any of the spiritual beliefs or practices that may be involved. The first time that happened, in 1978, a Paris court found Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard guilty of vulgar fraud.
In 1997, a Lyon court convicted five Scientology officials of similar charges, which were linked to the suicide of a debt-ridden church member. That verdict came with fines and a suspended prison sentence.”
Then rounding out the end of the month, Wikipedia bans Scientology from editing entries. This was a major win and also a major embarrassment for Scientology. Sorry trolls!
Oh dear….. and it continues…
JUNE ….
a wife sued Narconon (be sure to read the whole story) for treatment of her then fiance. She claimed:
“Daniel Locatelli was subjected to verbal attacks, often of an anti gay substance. He was denied medical care when he needed it and the staff kept him and his belongings against his will when he asked to leave. He finally escaped after 4 days. Among the claims against the facilities and their employees and agents are breach of contract, fraud in the inducement, negligent misrepresentation and fraudulent misrepresentation.”
The two facilities involved were Narconon Southern California and Narconon Joshua Hills.
Zingo! Scientology!
Actor David Carradine was was found dead in a Bangkok Hotel room. Cause of death was erotic asphyxiation. *kinky* His family members, Sienna, Calista, and wife Anne are all avid Scientologists.
Although Carradine was supposedly not a “practicing” Scientologist, he performed in many Scientology functions, including riding the float in their shameless participation of the Christmas parade in Hollywood, as well as reading Christmas stories in the Scientology Celebrity Center Christmas Celebrations.
Then came two shining knights.
Those two knights are Joe Childs and Thomas Tobin. Authors at the St. Petersburg Times.
Joe and Thomas wrote a scathing series called the Truth Rundown for The St. Petersburg Times.
They interviewed ex Scientology top officials, Marty Rathbun, Mike Rinder, Amy Scobee, and Tom DeVocht. These former Sea Org members spoke of a sadistic game of musical chairs, physical and mental abuse and beatings of other members that they witnessed at the hands of current cult lead David Miscavige.
This series was very lengthy and too long to list here, so please be sure to click on the “Truth Rundown” link above and read the coverage in it’s entirety. There is also recorded interviews of ex-members on video on the “SP Times” website.
Also in June, on the Why We Potest website, a list was started by Anonymous. It is a list of ex-Scientologists who have left the cult and have spoken out. You can find this list on the Why We Protest Wiki. The list has reached over 875 names and continues to climb weekly. Kudos to Anonymous!
Then on a sad note, another tragic Scientology death.
But wait, there’s more…