Parler accidentally leaks email addresses of VIP users including Ivanka Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle
- The free speech oriented social media app founded in 2018 was recently acquired by Kanye West
- In announcing the exciting acquisition, Parler executed accidentally emailed out the addresses of hundreds of VIP users, including politicians and influencers
- They added their names to the carbon copy list – visible to anyone who receives it – rather than the blind carbon copy list, which is visible only to the sender
- The company’s COO said they were ‘highly embarrassed’ by the mistake, which exposed addresses of, among other, Trump children and members of congress
- West began talks to buy the app over Paris Fashion week, he has since been kicked off several social media platforms for posting anti-Semitic sentiments
Parler accidentally leaked the email addresses of 198 VIP users including Ivanka Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle.
The blunder happened after the rapper – also known as Ye – agreed to buy the pro-free speech app on Tuesday.
Users deemed VIPs were sent a group email gushing about the acquisition. But recipients addresses were added to the email using the carbon copy (cc) function, rather than the blind carbon copy (Bcc) function.
That means everyone who received the email could also see everyone else who received it – and their email addresses.
Some of the VIPs whose contact details were revealed included Trump siblings Eric and Ivanka, Don Jr.’s rumored fiancé Kimberly Guilfoyle and Eric’s wife Lara.
Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem were also on the list.
Conservative pundits and influencers whose email addresses were shared also include Charlie Kirk, Jack Posobiec, Dan Bongino and Candace Owens, whose husband, George Farmer, is the CEO of the platform.
Some of the emails were government addresses, others tied individuals to specific political offices, including those of Ted Cruz and Matt Gaetz.
The email that was mistakenly blasted out to hundreds of Parler VIPs who had not been blind copied, thereby exposing their personal email addresses
Ye, formerly Kanye West, recently agreed to buy conservative-aligned social media app Parler, which is run by the husband of West’s confidant Candace Owens
Among those whose private emails were exposed by the mishap was Kimberly Guilfoyle (right), partner to Don Jr. (left)
Eric and Ivanka Trump were two of the individuals whose email addresses were mistakenly leaked by Parler earlier this week
Project Veritas President James O’Keefe, who has previously had his home raided by the FBI, had his email exposed in the incident
Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (R) were also among the influential conservatives whose email addresses went out with the accidental email
Following the accidental leak, COO of the company Josh Levine sent an apology follow up that read:
‘Earlier today, we shared with you news about Ye’s intent to purchase Parler. In the excitement, we inadvertently included your email address in the CC field instead of the BCC field.
‘To say we’re highly embarrassed is an understatement,’ he wrote.
To add insult to injury, many of those contacted said they’d long-deserted Parler. It was set up in 2018 as an alternative to Twitter, over claims the social media giant was censoring conservative users.
But after an initial rush to join, the app was temporarily closed, and has struggled to regain its momentum since being relaunched.
Donald Trump has launched his own Twitter rival, TruthSocial, which has been moderately successful. Most conservatives who haven’t been banned remain on Twitter itself, which has up to 236 million daily users – to the mere 40,000 believed to use Parler every day.
Florida congressional candidate Anna Paulina Luna told Politico ‘worked with and was approached by Parler prior to my 2020 election. I was given a badge as I worked in media and they wanted to confirm my account was the official [account] to avoid impersonation accounts.
‘I haven’t spoken to anyone at the org in a few years as I prefer Instagram as a primary means of communication and did not like the interface of Parler,’ she said.
Another one of the Republicans whose address was on the exposed list said he had engaged with a representative for the app at an event and ‘the next thing I know I get am email saying, ‘Oops so sorry. We sent your email to everybody on our list.”
Farmer, whose father is a member of the British House of Lords, said that conversations with Ye to acquire Parler began during Paris Fashion Week, during which his wife Owens appeared with the rapper wearing the controversial ‘White Lives Matter’ t-shirt.
In the initial announcement of West’s buyout, Farmer is quoted saying: ‘this deal will change the world, and change the way the world thinks about free speech.
‘Ye is making a groundbreaking move into the free speech media space and will never have to fear being removed from social media again.
‘Once again, Ye proves that he is one step ahead of the legacy media narrative. Parlement will be honored to help him achieve his goals.’
Parlement Technologies is Parker’s parent company.
In a statement to app users on Monday, Farmer said: ‘Ye is not only a music & apparel titan but he, like Parler, has faced senseless and unnecessary censorship and cancellation by Big Tech. He shares Parler’s passion for free speech and independent thought.’
‘Parler will remain a place where everyone can think, listen, and speak freely. We will continue the fight against censorship, cancel culture, and authoritarianism,’ he said.
George Farmer, CEO of Parler and husband to Candace Owens, said he and Ye began discussing a potential business arrangement during Paris fashion week. Ye was then suspended form several major platforms for making offensive comments about Jews
Owens recently supported West at his Paris fashion week show, where the controversy of his ‘White Lives Matter’ shirts began
Canceled: Kanye promised to ‘go death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE’ in a shocking tweet earlier this month
West has been the subject of significant recent controversy due to a number of anti-Semitic sentiments he has shared across a number of platforms, which have led companies including Instagram and Twitter to ban his accounts.
In a Fox Business interview with Stuart Varney, Farmer repeatedly declined to say whether Parler would or would not allow West to post the same sort of anti-Semitic commentary.
Farmer said that ultimately Ye would be the ‘controller’ when the business venture is complete.
In recent weeks, West promised to go ‘death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.’
‘The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also. You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda,’ he added, in addition to peddling several other negative tropes about Jews.
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