'Build-A Cult': Josh Brolin Wants to Know What He Got Himself Into
When a data breach exposes a secret society co-founded by one of Silicon Valley's most polarizing billionaires, most people wonder who's inside. Josh Brolin's response was something else entirely: he wanted to know what the hell he had gotten himself into.
Brolin's name surfaced this week when The Hollywood Reporter dug into materials first uncovered by WIRED identifying individuals affiliated with 'Dialog', a secretive, invite-only forum co-founded by Peter Thiel. A spokesperson for the No Country for Old Men actor told THR that Brolin would 'like to know what the f**k he got himself into.'
Dialog is a private, invitation-only network co-founded in 2006 by Palantir chairman Thiel and data entrepreneur Auren Hoffman. The organization holds off-the-record summits for powerful figures from the worlds of politics, finance, military, celebrity, and tech, and has frequently been compared to the Bilderberg Group and the World Economic Forum. The leaked agenda for the society's upcoming retreat reveals an eclectic program of off-the-record sessions, including panels titled 'Money (Does?) Buy Happiness,' 'Bring Back Nuclear,' 'How's Your Sex Life,' 'Navigating WWIII,' and, weirdly, 'Build-a-Cult.'
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Brolin was nominated for membership by former Uber CEO Ryan Graves. His application included the following: '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 am in San Francisco.' His application was given a C grade.
Other Hollywood names surfacing in the leaked materials include Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sophia Bush, music manager Scooter Braun, La La Landcomposer Benj Pasek, A24 partner Scott Belsky, The Atlantic CEO Nick Thompson, and New York Times writer Ezra Klein. WIRED described the forum as one 'whose agenda runs from panels on cult-building and sex to prepping for World War III' and noted that its confirmed attendee list spans figures as varied as Elon Musk, Senator Cory Booker, Jared Kushner, and YouTube CEO Neal Mohan.
Gordon-Levitt and Bush both moved quickly to put distance between themselves and Thiel specifically. Gordon-Levitt issued a statement on Instagram confirming he attended two Dialog conferences, but wrote: '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 I've read about his views, we are political and ideological opposites.' Bush released a lengthy statement on Threads, explaining that she had accepted invitations to discuss Another Body, a documentary she executive produced about AI deepfake abuse, and the DEFIANCE Act, legislation she has championed to protect victims of non-consensual deepfake imagery.
Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal and the data-mining firm Palantir Technologies, is a prominent supporter of Vice President JD Vance and has said he voted for President Donald Trump. He donated more than $1.7 million to candidates and political parties in 2024, according to federal data, and has said publicly that he no longer believes 'freedom and democracy are compatible.' It is not clear from the leaked data whether Dialog engages in political activity, although the organization purchased land outside Washington last year for a permanent campus. The breach exposed names, phone numbers, email addresses, and birthdates of members who had been told their participation would remain private. A promise that, as of this week, no longer holds.
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This story was originally published June 19, 2026 at 7:42 AM.