Michelle Obama won’t be attending Arizona women’s conference, AG says
Aug 22, 2018, 4:41 AM | Updated: 11:45 am
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
PHOENIX — If you thought an Arizona women’s conference that was set to feature former First Lady Michelle Obama sounded too good to be true, that’s because it was.
The Arizona Attorney General’s office warned consumers of false and misleading advertising relating to the 2018 Women EmpoweredUp Conference.
The conference, which supposedly will take place in late September at an unspecified location in Phoenix, was advertised to have Obama as a guest, according to Kimberly Shedrick, the conference organizer.
But Obama’s representatives told the attorney general’s office that the first lady will not be at the conference.
According to ABC15, Shedrick also claimed that she “specifically stated” on her advertisement that she “invited them and I’m still holding out” for Obama and other high-profile guests, including Angela Ducey.
In addition, Shedrick recently posted on her Facebook page that every ticket purchased for the conference would also receive an entry to win a Maserati Quarttroporte.
But the office claimed that the pictured Maserati does not belong to Shedrick. She deleted the Facebook post after being allegedly confronted about the car.
“I was trying to give a Maserati away and they’re not wanting to give us the Maserati but we’ve got a couple of cars lined up and we’re giving away 25 scholarships as well,” she told ABC15.
Despite this, the office claimed that Shedrick continues to promote the event and sell tickets. Tickets were sold for up to $65 each, according to an EventBrite page.
She has said that she expects to sell as many as 5,000 tickets, which would equate up to $275,000 in ticket sales.
Anyone who bought tickets and felt as if they were deceived was encouraged to file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office.
To file a consumer complaint online, click here. Consumers can also call 602-542-5763, in Tucson at (520) 628-6648, or outside those metro areas at 800-352-8431.
Below are some of the advertisements for the conference, as seen on Shedrick’s Facebook page.
