Virtual conference promising George Clooney dubbed new Fyre Fest

Thrive Philanthropy’s Connect Summit was originally charging people thousands to see their favorite stars speak.

But in what is being called the new “Fyre Fest,” George Clooney and a handful of other superstars now say they had no idea they were being promoted as keynote speakers at the philanthropy summit, where tickets were selling for up to $1,800.

After a promotional press release was sent out, stars attached to the event - including Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey and Stephen Curry - denied they were attending the “virtual summit" when contacted.

The PR firm Wunderlich Kaplan said the event appears to be “fraudulent” and added, “While something like this has never happened at our agency of over 20 years, it seems that we were hired to launch a conference that was built on lies.”

The PR firm’s founder, Gwen Wunderlich, sent out a press release with the subject “Official PR Statement: Connect Summit, A-list Celebrities NOT attending- the next FYRE Festival.”

Her message read, “Regrettably, due to fraudulent information provided to us by our now former client, Stephanie Lapensee founder of Thrive Philanthropy and creator of the Connect Summit, our agency, Wunderlich Kaplan Communications no longer represents this project...Most recently we learned that they had actually never heard of the conference. Our agency was given false confirmation on all the celebrities mentioned above, more than once...We have since contacted Ms. Lapensee asking for a statement or response and have not heard back.”

The firm is no longer representing the project, which was originally scheduled for June 23rd and 24th. Tickets were being sold from $399 to $1,799.

George Clooney has also released a statement saying, “There are ads running claiming that Amal and I will be participating in the Thrive Philanthropy's Connect Summit. We Have never heard of this summit and have never been approached to be part of a charity that is charging $399.00 for people to participate. When we contacted the company in charge they said it was a mistake and would take our names off.”

He continued, “We don't know whether this charity is what it says it is and was just duped by a booking agency or whether there is something more nefarious involved. The best antiseptic is sunlight, and in the interest of protecting the public and the many important charitable organizations we hope that this situation will be rigorously investigated.”

The original press release, which Insider received on May 26, promised “the first ever, A-list star studded digital conference for Philanthropy.” On June 23rd and 24th, the biggest names in Nonprofit/Hollywood come together (virtually) for Thrive Philanthropy's Connect Summit.”

The press release now links to a statement from Thrive Philanthropy CEO Stephanie Lapensee that reads, “We deeply regret the circumstances surrounding the Connect Summit. Miscommunication from Thrive Philanthropy led to keynote speakers being publicized before they had officially committed to participating in our virtual conference.”

It continues on to say, “We were hopeful and optimistic that we would be able to confirm these speakers and were in the process of determining their interest. I understand the disappointment and concerns of all involved with the conference. It was not our intention to mislead the public, and I am sincerely sorry for the confusion this has caused. All admissions to the conference have been paused and the one ticket that was sold has been refunded, although I understand this does not minimize this error in judgement.”

The original press release promised a two-day virtual conference that was meant to “educate, enlighten, and engage on the most crucial and urgent global issues.”

It offered guests “a gift bag, also be able to participate in morning yoga sessions, cooking sessions with a celebrity chef, an exclusive virtual concert with country music’s biggest stars, exclusive screening of George Clooney’s new documentary.”