Joseph Gordon-Levitt has publicly addressed his attendance at a secretive society meeting put on by controversial billionaire Peter Thiel.
In an Instagram post on Thursday, the actor admitted to going to two of Thiel’s “Dialog conferences,” but added “I do not know Peter Thiel,” saying “I’ve never met him. I’ve never spoken with him or his representatives. I’ve never seen him at an event. From what I’ve read about his views, we are political and ideological opposites.”
Gordon-Levitt addressed people’s concerns about the clandestine meetings put on by Thiel, the founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies who is known for his anti-democracy views and willingness to support authoritarianism. “I understand why people have questions and are suspicious. Some of the headlines and posts circulating about this are alarming,” Gordon-Levitt wrote.
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The actor was referring to a report by Wired that exposed how “200 of the world’s elites registered for a retreat whose agenda runs from panels on cult-building and sex to prepping for World War III.” Between that story and one by The Hollywood Reporter attendees of the retreat such as Elon Musk, Sen. Cory Booker, and actors like Josh Brolin, Sophia Bush, and Gordon-Levitt were outed.
Bush put out a statement on X Thursday, saying she was unaware the conference she was invited to last year was founded by Thiel, “someone you could not pay me to be in a room with,” she said. For Brolin’s part, he was a bit more humorous or enraged, depending on one’s reading, about attending, telling The Hollywood Reporter through his team he would “like to know what the fuck he got himself into.”
Gordon-Levitt wrote that he was one of a “variety of people, with a wide variety of opinions” at the events, “some I agreed with, some I didn’t.” The actor added “I can’t speak to every person named in the reporting, but my experience was not of a single ideological gathering.”
His attendance was part of a larger mission in his life, Gordon-Levitt claimed. “Over the last couple of years, l’ve 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’s productive to engage with those we oppose.”
