George and Amal at NYC conference Connect Summit

Pan

Are George Clooney and Amal Clooney appearing together at the summit?

Yes, of course. It's about their Clooney Foundation for Justice. That, if I'm not mistaken, is why it says George and Amal Clooney.....

Thanks, it should be interesting

I'm wondering whether they'll be in NY for this. It's a virtual conference. To me that says it's online., so why would they need to be here? I assume attendance is online as well. A bit pricey at $399 - although I guess not bad as a fee for an organization wanting to participate.

They don't give an actual date for the conference - just that it's in June. We may be out of lockdown, but any kind of physical meeting would have to be very limited since social distancing and masks aren't going away any time soon. I wonder if there will be any way to see any of the conference without having to "attend".

Thanks Lila

I guess we are going to have to wait and see.

Thanks, Lilia. The article really does make it seem like the whole thing is some kind of a scam. If the organization sponsoring the event really exists I think the celebrities named as participants would have heard of it, but it seems like George - who is pretty involved in the philanthropic arena - never did.

It will be interesting to see what happens.

I read on the Daily Mail this whole thing is a fraud.

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[size=34]The new Fyre Festival? George Clooney leads host of A-list stars DENYING they are keynote speakers at philanthropy summit that claims they are attending and is selling tickets for $1,800[/size]

• Website had claimed to have secured A-list celebs to speak on philanthropy
  
  
• George Clooney, Ryan Reynolds, Stephen Curry and their wives were on the bill
  
  
• Once contacted by interested press, it appears none of the celebs knew about it
  
  
• PR firm say they were promoting the event while unaware anything was wrong
  
  
• Online information for the 'virtual summit' has now be pulled 
  
  
• It's not clear how many people may have purchased tickets, which were being sold for $399 each with some as high as $1,799 
  
  
• If revealed to be a scam, it has echoes of 2017's Fyre Festival that saw thousands travel to a non-existent event in the Bahamas after spending up to $12,000 
  
  

By JAMES GORDON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM 
PUBLISHED: 02:24 EDT, 29 May 2020 | UPDATED: 08:14 EDT, 29 May 2020


A 'virtual summit' that was supposed to be centered around the topic of philanthropy and claimed to have secured some some big star power to participate, has been revealed to be a fake.
Thrive Philanthropy, a small consulting firm based in Utah, had been advertising a star-studded event that would feature celebs including George and Amal Clooney as 'keynote speakers'.
Other A-listers said to be involved included Ryan Reynolds and his wife Blake Lively,  Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, and Golden Gate Warriors' Stephen Curry.
However, stars including Clooney have now revealed they knew nothing about the event - despite tickets being being sold for up to $1,799.
And the PR firm that was to promote the event has also said that no such event is happening. 
The apparent scam has echoes of 2017's Fyre Festival that saw thousands of music fans travel to a non-existent event in the Bahamas after spending up to $12,000 on tickets.
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A website had claimed to have secured A-list celebs to speak on the topic of philanthropy in an exclusive 'virtual' two-day summit
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George and Amal Clooney who are well known for their philanthropy are said to be calling for an investigation after their names were used to promote the event without their knowledge
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Actress Charlize Theron had also been billed as a 'keynote speaker' at the event
A website had been set up inviting journalists to attend the 'two day virtual Connect Summit', promising to 'educate, enlighten and engage on the most crucial and urgent global issues.'
'The event will feature the who’s who in the non-profit and philanthropy circuit, including keynote speakers who include Matthew McConaughey, Stephen, and Ayesha Curry, George and Amal Clooney, Ashton Kutcher, Charlize Theron, Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Camilla Alves, and Julie Cordua,' a press release promoting the summit read.  
Tickets were being sold for $399 each with some as high as $1,799 according to Deadline. 
However, after the story was published, the website was stripped of information and the facility to purchase tickets was removed.

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Actress Blake Lively and husband Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds. The couple have said they 'were not aware of this event or confirmed to participate'
PR firm Wunderlich Kaplan, who had been hired to plug the flashy conference, has since learned that no celebrities appear to have been booked and that all information related to the event appears to be 'fraudulent'. 
'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,' Kaplan wrote in a statement. 
'Regrettably, due to fraudulent information provided to us by our client Stephanie Lapensee the founder of Thrive Philanthropy, the creator of the Connect Summit, our agency, Wunderlich Kaplan Communications no longer represents this project.' 
'We are horrified about the situation and will be working diligently to make sure that all information put out there is corrected. Thank you for your understanding. It's all pretty unbelievable as we still have not heard back from Ms. Lapensee.' 
DailyMail.com has reached out to Lapensee for comment.  
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Among the recognizable names were Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry and wife Ayesha who have also denied any participation in the event
Some of the celebrities that had been billed as being involved in the event have since released statements in relation to the total non-event.  
'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,' George Clooney wrote in a statement. 
'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,' Clooney continued. 
Other celebs given a billing included Ryan Reynolds and his wife Blake Lively. The couple have said they 'were not aware of this event or confirmed to participate.' 
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The Connect Summit also claimed to have secured Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves
Stephen and Ayesha Curry have also stated that they 'were never a part of this event.' 
The summit also claimed to have David Simas, the CEO of the Obama Foundation, speaking and Dr. Rajiv Shah, President of the Rockefeller Foundation, hosting a panel. 
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The premise has echoes of the infamous Fyre Festival of 2017 which was a fraudulent luxury music festival founded by Billy McFarland, pictured
Both have confirmed that neither are taking part in such an event. 
Others speakers that had been billed as being involved, according to the website, were Peter Buffett, the son of billionaire Warren Buffett and his wife Jennifer. 
At one stage, the summit was offering 'a gift bag, exclusive access to sessions, morning yoga sessions and lunch/dinner with celebrity chef Curtis Stone', Deadline reveals.
The premise has echoes of the infamous Fyre Festival of 2017 which was a fraudulent luxury music festival founded by Billy McFarland, of Fyre Media and rapper Ja Rule.
It was created with the intent of promoting the company's Fyre app for booking music talent.
The festival was scheduled to take place in the Bahamas and was promoted on Instagram by social media influencers who later revealed they had been paid to do so. 
Instead of the luxury villas and gourmet meals for which festival attendees paid thousands of dollars, they received prepackaged sandwiches and FEMA tents as their accommodation. 
Celebrities including Elsa Hosk, Emily Ratajkowski, Bella Hadid, Lais Ribeiro, Gizele Oliveira and Rose Bertram, pictured left to right, were also paid to promote the event on Instagram

Fake news, I thought it sound weird at this point in George Clooney and Amal Clooney's marriage relationship.

They are idiot's to use George and other celebs names did they really think they wouldn't deny it since it is not true.

Mm, when you're a 'fan magazine for guitarists' but there are no following similar stories in leading outlets to reiterate your big news, it smells a bit, doesn't it? I hope not too many got taken in, in these especially difficult times. Thrive is not such a great word to use either when most are just trying to survive............

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Here is George's comment:

EXCLUSIVE, May 28 12:18 PM PST: Here is an odd one I’m trying to get to the bottom of. George Clooney tells Deadline he was upset to find that his and wife Amal Clooney were touted as “keynote speakers” participants in Connect, a two-day virtual event that neither he nor Amal — or Charlize Theron, for that matter — was even aware of, and I’m trying to find out if other participants like Matthew McConaughey and wife Camila Alves, Steph and Ayesha Curry and Ashton Kutcher were, either.
The forum used their names to tout a pricey program offering “early bird special” prices of between $399 (escalating to $999) and $1,199 (escalating to $1,799) for a virtual event with a gift bag, exclusive access to sessions, morning yoga sessions and lunch/dinner with celebrity chef Curtis Stone. I’ve confirmed that while Theron initially was on the invite, she knew nothing of it either. Ryan Reynolds and wife Blake Lively also were listed but now are no longer on the list, and Clooney was told after bracing organizers that they exited over a scheduling conflict. The event is set for June 23-24.
Clooney engages in charitable endeavors often but was surprised to learn from a phone call from a friend that he and Amal were listed in original announcements about this event — something he had never heard of.
Said Clooney: “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. I then asked them who else on the list of people in the ad will not be participating. They told us Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively. They didn’t respond about Charlize Theron. 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 organisations we hope that this situation will be rigorously investigated.”


Calls to organizers weren’t returned, so far. Yesterday they removed the names of the Clooneys, Reynolds & Lively, and Theron after Clooney braced organizers on how something like this could happen. He made it clear that he wasn’t looking to harm a worthy charity and acknowledged there could have been missteps taken by some of the organizers. But it is incredulous to include big stars who aren’t even aware of an event they are tied to. The Clooneys, who’ve personally donated $1 million to charitable causes since the coronavirus pandemic hit, are sensitive to making sure that charities seeking money are doing the right thing, something that didn’t always happen after 9/11.
A press release on the event dated Wednesday said it was organized by Thrive Philanthropy — touted as “the world’s leading philanthropy organization that’s changing the way philanthropic efforts will be in this new world we are living in.” Organizers said the event “will feature the who’s who in the non-profit and philanthropy circuit, including keynote speakers who include Matthew McConaughey, Stephen and Ayesha Curry, George and Amal Clooney, Ashton Kutcher, Charlize Theron, Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Camilla Alves, and Julie Cordua,” with a list of other philanthropists.
The organizer is Thrive Philanthropy, “a boutique consulting firm working with some of the leading non-profit organizations in the world as well as providing advisory services to private foundations, nation states and corporations. We work hand in hand with our clients to deliver integrated, collaborative and efficient solutions to some of the most common and the most complex problems.”

I think morning yoga sessions and lunch/dinner with celebs is a dead giveaway that this can't be real.  And invites to reporters to attend? Where? How? Online? Couldn't be in person. With half the world just barely coming out of lockdown how was any of this supposed to happen?

It gets worse - being compared to the 'Fyre Festival' and claims she's worked with George 'for years'.

Commentators are loving George's phrase 'sunlight is the best antiseptic'