Daring Infiltration and Digital Defiance: Jessica Palmadessa's Crusade Against Scientology's Secrets - Scientology Stories #41

When Jessica Palmadessa set out to create engaging content on Hollywood Boulevard, she never expected her social media antics would lead her into the heart of Scientology's enigmatic world. Join us as Jessica recounts her audacious attempt to enter a Scientology center with a Kanye West impersonator, a prank that quickly took a sobering turn into false accusations and wrongful police detention. Her fearless narrative isn't just about the laugh-out-loud moments; it's a testament to her bravery as she aligns with the Aftermath Foundation, steadfast in aiding others to break free from Scientology's grasp.

The power of a hashtag or a viral video is undeniable, but when it comes to challenging Scientology's status quo, it requires a blend of audacity and innovation. Jessica Palmadessa takes us behind the scenes of her campaign to ignite a Congress petition, shrewdly capturing Scientology's influence on Capitol Hill. We'll also dive into the aftermath of a livestream event that left Scientologists scurrying from the spotlight and triggered a reduction in their Hollywood hub's activity. But every action has a reaction; Jessica's TikTok series put her in the organization's crosshairs, a stark reminder of the tightrope walked by digital activists.

In our final segment, we grapple with the weighty issues of censorship and the fervor needed to champion open conversation about organizations like Scientology. Jessica's firsthand account of confronting TikTok's headquarters underscores the delicate dance of free speech in the digital age. From learning about Scientology's unexpected ties to the LAPD to the solid backing of the Beverly Hills Police, her story is one of resilience. Despite personal setbacks, such as losing her TikTok account, Jessica's spirit remains unshaken, her resolve to reveal the truth unwavering. Her tale is a rallying cry for the community's collective effort to protect the youth and shine a relentless light on the shadowy corners of Scientology.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:12

Welcome to the channel. I'm your host for today, claire Headley, and joined with me today is none other than Jessica Pomadesa. Thank you so much for joining me, jessica. I really appreciate it, pomodessa, thank you so much for joining me, jessica. I really appreciate it. As I said, I've been seeing some of your activities in LA. I'm obviously not in LA, but you are making quite a stir over in Scientology land. I wanted to ask what brought you to this To be. From all the many people I've talked to, there's always something that sparked interest and attention. What was that for you?

Speaker 2: 0:56

Pretty much I was already doing content before this. That was my full-time job. I did social media. I would film on Hollywood Boulevard sometimes and me and my friends would be filming. We would see them in their little corsets handing out papers and I would just always be like these people are so bizarre.

Speaker 2: 1:10

And I knew about Scientology. I knew about it just from South Park. I knew they were crazy and stuff, but I didn't know exactly everything about them. So yeah, that was all I pretty much knew. I considered them like a cult and everything like as most people do, I feel like at this point. But I didn't know all the details. I had never talked to somebody that was in it or anything. And then I had seen Straight LA out there. I didn't know him at the time. I seen like his videos pop up on my For you page. I'm like, oh, this guy's funny. And then I was like I'm going to go in there for a video and just pretend I'm interested, sort of. So I did that with my friend, just recorded it and then posted it. And then people liked the angel security guy for some reason in my video. So that started the whole save angel thing. And then I went from there and then I met up with Will and then it grew from there and then I learned everything about it.

Speaker 2: 2:03

I went down the whole rabbit hole like I'm like it gets crazier and crazier the more you learn about it, so it's like got me locked in there?

Speaker 1: 2:09

Yeah, no joke, I always say it's a Pandora's box, so but what was that like going in there the first time? Were you like creeped out, or what was that experience like?

Speaker 2: 2:21

So this was just the test center that I had walked into, so they didn't even ask me to do the personality test. They saw that I was like that I had like people with me, like with cameras and stuff, and they probably saw us always like filming on the boulevard, like because we would pass them and kind of look at them like and just be like what are these people doing all the time. So I feel like they definitely knew. But then Angel had told me, when he was talking to me, that Lady Gaga was a Scientologist for some reason, and I clipped that and that had gone viral just because it was so ridiculous and I was like confused too.

Speaker 2: 2:50

So I literally went home and like looked up, like is Lady Gaga a Scientologist? Now, that was not true and I was just like what? So then I was like, oh, he must like celebrities. So I went with like um, my friend that like looks like Kanye West and does like a little like skits where he like pretends that he's Kanye West and fools people. So I went in with him for the second video and uh, I was like, oh, they love um. Like they won't let me in here, but like, since they love um celebrities. We could probably get you in here and then Twilla her face like glowed up.

Speaker 1: 3:25

She thought that it was a real Kanye and just went from there and then started oh my gosh that's crazy, crazy, crazy, and I love that you're reaching, uh, an audience that otherwise might not even ever know of the dangers of Scientology.

Speaker 2: 3:38

Um, yeah, that got a lot of the younger people uh interested the whole TikTok part of it, because I I mean, I feel like if it was all serious, like the 14 year olds and everything they were like interested in coming down there to the test center and stuff to like, you know, see what's going on, would I have gone if there wasn't, like the comedy aspect of it yeah, no, absolutely your.

Speaker 1: 3:59

Your tiktok content is amazing and always humorous and, uh, certainly eye-opening too, and I can certainly. I have two teenagers who I'm sure have seen your videos. So what has been your craziest experience being around Scientology properties so far?

Speaker 2: 4:23

Probably getting swatted, I guess. But I wasn't even by the property. Then I was live streaming. I had been at the property earlier in the day and then I was like, oh, I'm not doing, like I'm taking a break, I'm going to go to a party or whatever. It wasn't even a party, it was a kickback. I went up into Hollywood Hills it's like 2 am and then all the like, literally so many police cars came and like put everybody in handcuffs and whatever, and they were like, oh, the girl in the minicooper shooting everyone up. And it was right after I left the police station about like a Scientology incident.

Speaker 2: 4:56

So I was like, and I got my car towed that same night outside the police station oh my gosh, and they were like trying not to release it, so that was, uh, probably the worst night out of it, but Wow, that's just crazy.

Speaker 1: 5:09

And, by the way, I just wanted to thank you personally for putting up the Aftermath Foundation phone number. I really appreciate it. We we are here to help people get out and fortunately we've had great success with that when they are ready to get out. So thank you for sharing that. Sharing that, and then tell me about your Congress petition. That was, I thought, amazing and brilliant.

Speaker 2: 5:31

Yeah. So I was like trying to kind of think of like the next step after now, obviously like the buildings are shut down, so like there's not much reason to. I mean it's not shut down completely, but you know what I mean?

Speaker 2: 5:42

No, we have more coming, more coming yeah yeah, but so I was like what's the next step? And then I just thought of that. I mean, obviously I could have sent the petition into like the Congress people, like just their email. But I was like no, like, hopefully, if I record some of them, specifically the ones that, like I filmed the couple that I filmed already were the ones that I know support Scientology or like have a history of like being like photographed with people in Scientology and stuff like that. Yeah, so those were the ones I was filmed. I'm not gonna film every single one, because people are gonna get bored of that, but my hope was just like that then other people would maybe do the same thing instead of me just sending it in through email and then nobody knows what happens to that. Yeah, I sent them through email as well, because, because I feel like they're just going to disregard the papers and be like, oh, we never got it.

Speaker 1: 6:26

But you know, yeah that's kind of the hope. Yeah Well, you certainly documented that. They did get it. That was awesome and I will absolutely share, of course, all your social media pages. I think you have a main website that has all your links right, your direct.

Speaker 2: 6:46

My direct me link. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 6:51

Is that the best one to to share, so that, yeah, probably Everyone knows how to find you. And then also, of course, your changeorg petition, which I signed. Thank you, it's. It's always funny to me, as, given that you, that for me, the first 30 years of my life was deep in the bowels of this organization, unfortunately because of my parents to see and meet someone like you and the many other people now that are just stepping up and saying no, this is not okay, this is an abusive organization. It's it's honestly inspiring and gives me hope that there will be a day to come when this organization no longer exists.

Speaker 2: 7:33

Hopefully someday soon.

Speaker 1: 7:34

Yeah, no, no doubt Um, and so what other, uh, what other um crazy, um incidents have you had happen in, in, um there's?

Speaker 2: 7:46

been so many.

Speaker 2: 7:46

Honestly, like, um, I'm trying to think like I think the most interesting one was the night everybody always asked, like what's like the craziest, like like live stream that I like remember I think it was the night that I was outside the, uh, the building that I think it's L Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition Center or whatever yes, and it was the first night that we had gotten over there.

Speaker 2: 8:11

It was me, will and, I think, chris I'm not sure if anybody else was there I think it was us three that stayed the longest. We just sat on the sidewalk until I don't even know what it was like 3 am or something, and just watched all the buses come. And they 3 am or something, and just watched all the buses come and they would like they just kept circling around, hiding from us and we were just like sitting on live stream showing everyone like the desperate measures that they were going to, and they like spent like hours circling around waiting for us to leave until finally they like pulled up and let them out and they all like ran with like their heads down. Like I'm like you're literally, if you're so worried about us having like content or whatever you're giving it to us.

Speaker 2: 8:46

If you just walked in like normal people, nobody would have cared you were like literal psychopaths, like head down, mass on, and I'm like you just gave everybody like content, and now everybody's gonna view this and think you're crazy. So then, um, we just kept waiting for all the buses, did that with each one, and then the very next day we went back and we're like, oh, we, we're going to do this again because, like you know, it's putting pressure on them and everything. And when we went back it was all boarded up, like the. They had like a big tarp over everywhere that you would say.

Speaker 2: 9:16

And then they had the security people like, when the bus pulled in, hold up umbrellas, like blocking, like the extra little spaces and stuff, and then they backed in the buses. They would start backing in all the buses, and then that led to, when they were backing in the bus, them slamming the bus into the pole because they couldn't say they were trying to back them up so they could get them into the, so that there was less room, they didn't have to walk past us. So then, as they were doing that, they gave us more content by then them crashing into the building or like the pole on the building. So I'm like this is not working out for you guys.

Speaker 1: 9:47

No, no doubt, I know it's crazy, and now it just seems that they abandoned that entire building Like.

Speaker 2: 9:52

I do not see anybody going in and out of that building, so I don't know when they do. Clearly they have to at some point, but we haven't figured it out yet.

Speaker 1: 9:59

Wow, yeah, there's a lot of staff that work in there. That's the gosh. It's crazy. And yeah, they don't know how to react to any of this, and all you're doing is showing what they're doing and how they're reacting, and they don't know how to deal with any of this, which is why I appreciate it. And, oh my gosh, that's just crazy. And so what happened with your TikTok account?

Speaker 2: 10:25

Yeah, I mean. So I had about a million on TikTok before I had started the series and then I never had a problem like with anything getting taken down, whatever. I still didn't have any community guidelines violations on my page. And then just randomly, after about like a month of doing the Scientology content, it just randomly got taken down. And then I was like, oh well, you know, I know people that you in LA that like can just get your account back if you pay them. Like they have their connections, they charge, they've done it for, like they're trustworthy people that have gotten back, like my friend's accounts, same amount of money, like you know, a few grand, whatever. And I was like, um, it got bounced back saying that like it can't, they've never seen this before, like they can't. And then, um, I've heard from three different people that like were in my account that a organization page that paid a large sum of money to get my account taken down.

Speaker 2: 11:23

I don't know what a large sum of money means. I wish I knew, because I'm like maybe I'll want to pay it, but probably way more than I can afford. But yeah, I'm still working on it. I went to the headquarters the other day. Like TikTok headquarters. I'm like is there a reason why you're silencing anyone that is talking about Scientology, any journalists that talk about Scientology, anything like that? Obviously, they're not going to give me an answer face to face. So I also wrote it down like in a letter and I'm like you could give this to someone, because I'm gonna just like keep pressuring you guys and annoying you until you do something. So, yeah, it's.

Speaker 1: 11:55

It's absolutely crazy to me in this day and age how the media are still so scared of Scientology's power. So, whatever, whatever. If there's anything I can do or to support you and your effort on getting your account back, please do let me know, because this is.

Speaker 2: 12:13

I think everybody thought I gave up on it because it's been like two months. I'm like, no, you don't understand. Every single day I'm annoying them. I get very into something where I will not let it go. I'm getting my way or I will literally die my way, you know. So I'm like I will annoy them. I don't care if it's a year from now. They're still going to be hearing from me every day. And then now the whole TikTok ban thing that supposedly you know who knows if it'll happen, but it does seem like they're going to have to sell. Then the owner of TikTok came on and was like talking about first amendment and like, oh, don't let them like silence your First Amendment. I'm like, oh, all of a sudden, first Amendment matters to you guys. It didn't matter when you pulled down my account.

Speaker 1: 12:52

No, oh my gosh, it's just crazy. Yeah, wow. And so where do you see this headed Like? What is what's what's coming for Jessica in this crazy endeavor Not crazy Brave endeavor, I should say.

Speaker 2: 13:08

So I mean, I'm not going anywhere, I'm going to continue with that. Obviously, the test center is going to open back up eventually. In the meantime, it's just kind of keeping people's interest, you know, because some people like think that it's just a bunch of entertainment and like expect that entertainment every day, stand there and like cause trouble because it just leads to trouble, even if we're not causing trouble. It leads to trouble with all the like, fake swattings and everything like that. So that's why I did like the the thing with the aftermath number, because I was trying to like find other ways to like bring awareness, which it did, because, like so many of the community members that were like going by and stuff were like love what you're doing, like like you could tell that they were on our side, which was good. Yeah, um, so just like ways to like keep it creative like that until the test center opens back up. Hopefully they never open back up. Yeah, totally, that would be amazing.

Speaker 1: 14:01

I know. Did you know that Phil Jones, who's part of the board of the Aftermath Foundation, when he was there on site putting up the billboard, he had one of the fake swatting incidents happen too?

Speaker 2: 14:12

Really.

Speaker 1: 14:18

No, I did not know that. No, it was. So. They arrived on site at four o'clock in the morning because the billboard was supposed to go up between four to 8 AM and the install crew arrived at 7 55 AM. Phil had flown in from out of town so he had a rental car. This guy shows up out of nowhere and starts throwing stuff at Phil's rental car, then comes directly across the street and threw a bottle and a stick at Phil. I did not know that, no.

Speaker 2: 14:45

I did not know that.

Speaker 1: 14:45

That's crazy. Yeah, and how crazy is that? I mean, all we all we're doing is putting up a billboard to say, hey, do you need help?

Speaker 2: 14:52

leaving. I cannot believe it got taken down.

Speaker 1: 14:53

I cannot believe it. I know Like that was insane to me, that was insane. Yeah, I know. Anyway, like I said, lots more coming. We're still here, we're not going anywhere, but it's, yeah, I don't know. The fake swatting thing is definitely a thing.

Speaker 2: 15:13

And it's not. We were actually, uh, yesterday we were at the city council meeting and, um, I kind of just went there to support uh surge because I know he, I wanted to talk there, so, um, he was just I don't know if it was him or the other audit la who I was with. One of them was just talking about the swaddings literally five minutes prior and they're like, oh, like we didn't know anything about that all this stuff. And then in comes the fire. Like you hear the sirens and I said as a joke, I was like oh, they're coming here, there's a structure fire.

Speaker 2: 15:37

Like as a joke, like thinking that, like, since they always get called just completely messing around, all of a sudden they come inside. They were like who called 911, and I was like now you get to see this firsthand, like and they were like what, like that's crazy. And then five minutes later, like I well, it wasn't five minutes later a couple like I don't know, like an hour later or something, I hear that they were at the blue building like swatting DOA. So I'm like the amount of times that they come out for literally no reason is crazy.

Speaker 1: 16:08

Yeah, exactly. And yet they quote, unquote, have nothing to hide. Yeah, that's the biggest bunch of lies ever. Oh, my goodness, any other crazy stories you'd like to share from your adventures?

Speaker 2: 16:23

There's just been, so I don't even know. It's something different. Like every single day. Every day it's like, oh, I'm going to go out for like 20 minutes or whatever, and then, like something crazy happens. Someone gets like falsely arrested for no reason or whatever, and then you end up out there all night.

Speaker 1: 16:38

So what has been the most surprising to you from the perspective of what you considered of Scientology before you started doing that, versus now being on their front doorstep, literally, is there. Is there something that just struck you particularly?

Speaker 2: 16:56

Mainly I would just say one how LAPD seems to really just come to their aid for everything. That was crazy to me because I've never seen police corruption like that. I'm not from LA, so I feel like cops in hometowns, you know like hometowns or whatever. Just towns are like more normal. Obviously there's police corruption everywhere, but like here it's crazy. I've never seen anything like this, especially when it comes to LAPD. Say that and then just hearing like all the ex-member stories like yeah, like trolling them or whatever me making like little funny videos about them, obviously being like look at these crazy people was like only you you know surface level deep. But then once you actually hear from the other members and it's like damn, like these were like real people in it and like hearing their stories.

Speaker 1: 17:42

It's like crazy yeah, no, absolutely, especially as kids. Yes, no, we uh. I had a meeting, I had met with LAPD last year and the chief of police said oh, we said you know, members cannot call 911. And you know what his response was Well, you can't call 911 here either. Like, really, you're that you literally will not listen. But anyway, hopefully, one of these that can come to an end and I do know that there are many other police agencies that are listening we we set up a law enforcement crisis line for specific areas that have high concentrations of scientologists at their request.

Speaker 2: 18:44

So anyway, um, any other stories you'd like to share on to Beverly Hills Police Department? Obviously they only deal with Beverly Hills, but I had gotten there just because I'm always filming there and I just want to let them know, like if you get all these fake calls and stuff, like it'll probably happen Wherever I go, it's going to follow me and like kind of explain them the whole story and everything. And they were like so nice, it was like a whole different world. They were like so nice, they listened to everything. They were like if you have a problem, like just call us, we'll come right out. But like so nice. And then I was like the difference between both.

Speaker 2: 19:18

Like Hollywood, I cannot stand walking into Hollywood station. Like it's just disgusting. First off, it's the nastiest police station I've ever seen in my life. And then the way that they talk, especially some of them. Like they talk to you like you're dogs, like oh, it's crazy. So like seeing the night and day between like the Beverly Hills Station and the Hollywood Station. Like it's a shame that when anything happens, like obviously the test center and all that's like by the Hollywood Station, so you have to deal with that. But I'm like, why couldn't it have been like the Beverly Hills Station, where they're like so nice?

Speaker 1: 20:13

But I'm like, why couldn't it have been like the Beverly Hills station, where they're like so nice? Probably any other station I feel like would be better than what you deal with with that. Oh my God. There's a huge amount of real estate surrounding Hollywood. Obviously a huge amount of members still in, uh, declining support, but hopefully there's a path forward where LAPD can cut ties and and start doing their jobs. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 20:28

Crazy.

Speaker 1: 20:29

Yes, we can only hope right.

Speaker 2: 20:36

Yes, we can only hope, right, oh gosh. Well, and anything else you'd like to share?

Speaker 1: 20:40

Um, I don't, I don't think so Well about the moment. Yeah, no, it's all good. And again, I just thank you for caring, thank you for stepping up, thank you for doing what you do. It is, you know, again, I spent my childhood in a terrible situation, so having people like you, who just care and are willing to stand up and despite consequences, is really something.

Speaker 2: 21:06

Yeah, well, to be honest, the consequences only made me madder. Like they took away my TikTok, which was my like at the time, full source of income, pretty much Like. Pretty much Cause I mean I do social media, that was my main platform and I was like I think people thought that I was going to back off. Once they did that, I was like, well, no, now they just made it personal also. Yes, so now I'm really going to like go after them.

Speaker 1: 21:30

Yep, I know what that feels like. I've been trying to exert my own little spot of pressure for 18 years. So it's very nice to see that there's broader awareness and you're you're helping the young people to not get sucked in either. So that's amazing. There's tremendous value in that and truly thank you.

Speaker 2: 21:51

Of course.

Speaker 1: 21:55

Awesome, jessica. Well, I will share all the links. I'll share your petition and um. Again, it was such a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for agreeing to do this yes absolutely what will this be on? Uh, youtube, yes, youtube, what channel? Oh, blown for good scientology exposed. I'll send you the link before we put it live, just so I can reshare it and everything Awesome. Thank you so much, jessica. I appreciate it. Take good care, stay safe, keep doing the good work. I appreciate you. Appreciate it. All righty.

Speaker 3: 22:26

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