{"id":713257,"date":"2026-06-19T09:04:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T09:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/713257\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T09:04:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T09:04:13","slug":"joseph-gordon-levitt-sophia-bush-on-dialog-conference-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/713257\/","title":{"rendered":"Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sophia Bush On Dialog Conference List"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAfter their names were included in a list of alleged attendees at Peter Thiel<\/a>\u2018s Dialog<\/a> conference, Joseph Gordon-Levitt<\/a> and Sophia Bush<\/a> are clearing the air.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe actors insisted they \u201cdo not know\u201d Thiel and they \u201ccould not pay me to be in a room\u201d with him, noting that the billionaire was not present at the secretive conference he founded two decades ago with a focus on tech.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI understand why people have questions and are suspicious,\u201d wrote Gordon-Levitt in a statement<\/a> on Instagram. \u201cSome of the headlines and posts circulating about this are alarming, if not bizarre. So let me clarify: I have been to two Dialog conferences. But, I do not know Peter Thiel. I\u2019ve never met him. I\u2019ve never spoken with him or his representatives. I\u2019ve never seen him at an event. From what I\u2019ve read about his views, we are political and ideological opposites.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAt the Dialog conferences I\u2019ve been to, there were a wide variety of people, with a wide variety of opinions, some I agreed with, some I didn\u2019t. I can\u2019t speak to every person named in the reporting, but my experience was not of a single ideological gathering.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tGordon-Levitt continued, \u201cOver the last couple of years, I\u2019ve been focused on trying to make a positive impact on how the future unfolds, especially when it comes to tech and Al. Part of that work means forming relationships with all kinds of people, trying to understand their perspective, and trying to get them to understand mine. Sometimes it\u2019s productive to engage with those we oppose.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBush noted that she \u201caccepted nearly every single invitation I received\u201d to conferences in the past couple of years to speak about the deepfake porn documentary Another Body with fellow executive producer Nia Batts, in attempt to champion the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits (DEFIANCE) Act\u2019s criminalization of deepfake abuse.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou can imagine my surprise to learn that a conference I was invited to as a guest who could counter the \u2018it\u2019s-all-progress\u2019 narrative of this seeming runaway Al race was founded by someone you could not pay me to be in a room with, let alone charge me money to be in a room with!?\u201d she wrote in a statement<\/a>. \u201cTo be clear, that individual was not present, was never brought up during my experience there at all, and as l\u2019ve since learned he has not been involved whatsoever in approximately 15 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBush added, \u201cMy values are very clear and consistent. I work to protect families-by defending democratic institutions and safeguarding basic human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNoting she \u201cdid find the conference weekend valuable, in the same way I find it valuable to meet with and important to engage with people who see the world differently than I do in addition to the work I do alongside likeminded allies,\u201d Bush recounted watching \u201cdiverse perspectives be heard and considered around tables.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI do wish I would have researched the event beforehand, but even if I had, I probably still would have gone because I firmly believe that having women standing up for women (and ringing alarm bells about our common and dangerous experiences with emerging technology) in rooms like these is of paramount importance,\u201d explained Bush. \u201cI want to ensure people are made to have that conversation. I want them to see us and to demand that they protect us. By the time I left the event early (had to fly to NC for another) I felt had been heard, and I felt like l\u2019d listened too.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI am proud of who I am in any room where I am advocating. And I\u2019m proud of the values I brought into those conference rooms and conversations I had while there, and I feel the same way about the other artists and activists I attended with,\u201d wrote Bush.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn Threads, Bush clarified that she \u201cdidn\u2019t know [Thiel] had ever been involved until this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFounded by Thiel and Auren Hoffman, the invite-only network of CEOs, politicians and intellectuals meets to have small, moderated conversations in confidentiality about the future of tech, according to Axios<\/a>, which reported the forum\u2019s plans for a DC-area campus last year.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn Wednesday, The Hollywood Reporter<\/a> shared self-proclaimed hacker Maia Arson Crimew\u2019s leaked list<\/a> of 113 alleged Dialog members, which also includes Elon Musk, Jared Kushner, Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Cory Booker, Josh Brolin, Drew Scott, Scooter Braun, A24\u2019s Scott Belsky, YouTube\u2019s Neal Mohan, The New York Times\u2019 Ezra Klein and more.<\/p>\n

\n\tBrolin\u2019s rep told THR he would \u201clike to know what the fuck he got himself into,\u201d which the outlet reported includes session topics ranging from \u2018Disinformation & Deepfakes\u2019 and \u2018Democracy Under Surveillance\u2019 to \u2018Build-a-Cult\u2019 and \u2018Navigating WWIII\u2019. <\/p>\n