Founder of ‘scam’ summit ‘falsely claimed she’d worked with George Clooney on charity since 2006’

The founder of a ‘virtual summit’ has said the announcement of George Clooney on its schedule of keynote speakers was a ‘misunderstanding’, had claimed she’d known the actor for years.

Thrive Philanthropy, a small consulting firm based in Utah, had been advertising the star-studded Connect Summit that would feature celebs including George and Amal Clooney as ‘keynote speakers’. But it was exposed as fake after celebrities revealed they knew nothing about the event – despite tickets being being sold for up to $1,799.

Stephanie Lapensee responded that it was not her ‘intention to mislead the public’ but in an email, she ‘claims she has worked alongside Clooney on numerous charity projects since 2006’, Page Six reports.

A Clooney representative said the details in the email viewed by Page Six are ‘not true’.

Lapensee admitted to the publication: ‘I have never worked [with Clooney] or any of his charities.’ 

Stephanie Lapensee (left) the founder of Thrive Philanthropy said that the entire episode was down to a simple misunderstanding but according to Page Six, she had written in an email that she’d known George Clooney (right) since 2006

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.

‘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. 

Some of the celebrities that had been billed as being involved in the event have since released statements in relation to the non-event. 

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.’ 

A Clooney representative said the details in the email viewed by Page Six are ‘not true’. He and Amal Clooney (left) were named on the bill for the event where tickets cost as much as $1,799

Lapensee admitted to the publication: ‘I have never worked [with Clooney] any of his charities’

Actress Blake Lively and husband Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds. The couple have said they ‘were not aware of this event or confirmed to participate’

Among the recognizable names were Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry and wife Ayesha who have also denied any participation in the event

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. 

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.  

Lapensee sent a statement to DailyMail.com explaining that the entire episode was a simple misunderstanding: 

‘I 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.

‘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 premise has echoes of the infamous Fyre Festival of 2017. The festival was heavily promoted on social media and billed as ‘the cultural experience of the decade’ touting plush villas and gourmet food. However, the project completely fell apart due to lack of funds, and guests arrived at a barren island with inadequate food, water, or shelter

‘The Connect Summit was organized as a platform for philanthropic organizations to come together virtually to plan for the future. Following discussions with our confirmed panelists and project partners, we will re-evaluate the appropriateness of continuing with the Connect Summit and provide an update on the future of the event in the coming days,’ Lapensee wrote. 

PR firm Wunderlich Kaplan, who had been hired to plug the flashy conference,said it was not a misunderstanding.

After sending out press materials, they were contacted by Clooney’s people an later learned that no celebrities appeared to have been booked and that all information related to the event appeared to be ‘fraudulent’. 

The fraudulent luxury music festival was founded by Billy McFarland, pictured

‘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 agency, headed by Dara 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.’ 

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 saw thousands of music fans travel to a non-existent event in the Bahamas after spending up to $12,000 on tickets. 

It was created with the intent of promoting the company’s Fyre app for booking music talent.

The festival 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.   

McFarland was blamed for the failure of the highly-anticipated music festival which was set to take place in the Bahamian island of Exuma over the course of two weekends in 2017

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