Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Sophia Bush also addressed their names surfacing in leaked documents identifying those affiliated with the invite-only society Dialog.

Josh Brolin doesn’t know ‘what the f--- he got himself into’ with Peter Thiel’s secret society

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Sophia Bush also addressed their names surfacing in leaked documents identifying those affiliated with the invite-only society Dialog.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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on June 18, 2026 6:25 p.m. ET

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Josh Brolin at Los Angeles premiere of 'Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery' in 2025; Peter Thiel at the Cambridge Union in 2024. Credit:

Maya Dehlin Spach/WireImage; Nordin Catic/Getty

- Josh Brolin is confused why his name appears in a collection of leaked documents identifying individuals affiliated with a secret society cofounded by Peter Thiel.

- A spokesperson for Brolin told *The Hollywood Reporter *that the actor would "like to know what the f--- he got himself into" when reached for comment.

- *WIRED* published the original report, which details panels at an upcoming Dialog forum with titles like "Build-a-Cult" and "Navigating WWIII."

Josh Brolin is as confused as you are about his alleged association with Peter Thiel.

The Oscar-nominated actor's name was among a throng that surfaced on Wednesday when *The Hollywood Reporter** *dug into materials first uncovered by *WIRED* relating to Dialog, a secretive, invite-only society cofounded by the powerful tech executive in 2006.

The group's membership directory and documents pertaining to an upcoming forum it's sponsoring near Dublin in August were dominated by names from the realms of politics and technology. However, several entertainment industry vets appeared in the cache as well. Brolin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sophia Bush, and record executive Scooter Braun were also among those whose names appeared in the documents.

Gordon-Levitt has since gone public with a considered explanation, but Brolin delivered a characteristically blunt reply, when a representative for the actor told *THR *he'd "like to know what the f--- he got himself into."

Josh Brolin in 'Wake Up Dead Man'.

John Wilson/Netflix

* *has reached out to representatives for Brolin, Gordon-Levitt, Bush, and Braun for comment.

The internal records were first obtained by maia arson crimew, a Swiss hacker and activist. Crimew is known for having made public an extensive U.S. no-fly list in 2023. The hacker told *WIRED* that they became aware of the publicly surfaced directory via an anonymous tip. The outlet was then able to independently verify its contents, and obtained the registration list for Dialog's 2026 retreat from a separate source.

According to documents reviewed by *THR*, Brolin was nominated to join Dialog by Uber CEO Ryan Graves.

"I grew up on a horse farm, climbed parts of Everest, given academy awards, been nominated, written a book, had former Poet laureates reach out, been friends with the greatest artists of our time and smoked crack under a car at 3 a.m. in San Francisco," the actor allegedly wrote in his application. His internal review resulted in a score of C.

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Dialog has remained secretive since its cofounding in 2006 by Thiel, the conservative political activist and venture capitalist behind the influential company Palantir Technologies, and Auren Hoffman, the entrepreneur behind SafeGraph, a data surveillance company. The group does not have a website, and has never publicly revealed one of its own members.

Dialog allegedly consists primarily of officials in government, titans of Silicon Valley, and wealthy business moguls. The retreat this year, scheduled for Aug. 12-16, includes sessions with titles like "Bring Back Nuclear," "How's Your Sex Life," and "Build-a-Cult."

Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Los Angeles in 2024.

Andrew Toth/WireImage

Gordon-Levitt offered a lengthy explanation for his involvement in the group, which he confirmed in a post shared to his Instagram on Thursday.

"I have been to two Dialog conferences. But, I do not know Peter Thiel. I've never met him. I've never spoken with him or his representatives. I've never seen him at an event. From what l've read about his views, we are political and ideological opposites," he wrote.

"Over the last couple of years, I've been focused on trying to make a positive impact on how the future unfolds, especially when it comes to tech and Al," he continued. "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."

Sophia Bush in New York City in 2023.

Arturo Holmes/Getty

Bush took to her own Instagram a few hours later to confirm and explain her attendance as a result of accepting "nearly every single invitation I received" in the past few years to discuss *Another Body*, a documentary exposing the world of deepfake pornography that she executive produced in 2023.

"You can imagine my surprise to learn that a conference I was invited to as a guest who could counter the 'it's-all-progress' 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!?" she wrote. "To be clear, that individual was not present, was never brought up during my experience there at all, and as I've since learned he has not been involved whatsoever in approximately 15 years."

Bush concluded her first of two Instagram Stories by clarifying, "My values are very clear and consistent. I work to protect families-by defending democratic institutions and safeguarding basic human rights."

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