Following the Money Inside Life Surge: Tim Tebow, Sage Steele & Cancel Culture | PTFO

When that widow and that single mother got into that room, who was gifted the $99 class, do you think they were gifted the $50,000 course? Because Tim Tebow is not in that room, but at the end of the day, they're there to sell you on an idea that going into debt is okay as long as it's kingdom-driven. And let me tell you, I got plenty of Bible horses that say the opposite. But LifeSurge, for the record, quote, strongly disagrees with the characterization of our company presented in recent reporting, end quote. And they went on to say further, Kira, amid their 3,000-word statement, which is published on motherjones.com, as well as our website, which are both linked in the show notes, this particular quote.

They said, We will not apologize for who we are, what we believe, or the work we do. The reporting presented serious allegations about life search. What it did not present with equal force was the full story, the thousands of students whose experiences stand in STARK contrast to that narrative, the extensive compliance infrastructure and safeguards we have built, and the facts and context we provided directly to the reporters before publication. We stand behind our people, we stand behind our mission, and we stand behind the work we have done alongside Tim Tebow for years. But by September 27th, the most prominent celebrity face across Life Surges event promos, the same guy who had spoken at the very first one-day event in July 2021, and has since spoken at more than 40 of these events since, he got removed from all of the upcoming event advertising.

So we have these two different versions of the Charlotte event poster, And in the first one, that was the original one, he is, like, front and center, clearly like the keynote speaker, whereas in the second one, he has disappeared. Yes. And so have others. So have others. Celtics head coach Joe Missoula backed out of the Hartford event that took place last Saturday, telling the Boston Globe, quote, Once these allegations came out, I just completely backed out of it. I'm not showing up there and obviously don't support any of the allegations or things that they're accused of. End quote. By September 29th, Magic Johnson's face had also been removed from the promo materials for a November 14th event in San Jose that he had been scheduled to attend.

And then former NFL head coach Tony Dungy disappeared from the lineup for the Tampa event scheduled for December 5th. Red Sox Hall of Famer David Ortiz is no longer on the lineup for the November 7th event in Fort Myers. Yeah, and that's just some of the names, right? There are plenty more non-sports celebrities who've also pulled out. Candice Cameron Bure of Full House and My Childhood's fame, she's gone. Nick Vujicic, a motivational speaker who has no arms, no legs, he's out. And I should point out also that none of these folks have responded to our request for comment. But all of this made me that much more curious what it would be like inside these life surge events in the weeks after our reporting came out.

And luckily, Lauren Windsor, who was in attendance in Charlotte on October 10th, shared this audio with us. of a familiar name, this being the president of LifeSurge, Sean Marcel. I don't know if you noticed, but recently, there's been a lot of conversation about our desire to be. Anybody notice over the last two weeks, there's been a little bit more conversation about it? Raise your hand if you know what I'm talking about. Okay, several of you. Listen, here's what I want us to all just acknowledge, that the media never lies. there are always that narrative is always you know i say it in just but i'm so glad that you're here today because i believe it's now more important than ever that believers understand that we are not required to check our faith on the pew on sunday and then go on the little tip of the week without the hope that we have in jesus how many of you know god's called us to be a light in a dark world amen so they're you know clearly doubling down they're unapologetic about, you know, their free mixing of Christianity and financial advice.

And how perhaps the media, it sounds like the problem is you. It's me. I'm the problem. It's me. It's us media types. But then the question was, okay, so which other celebrities would co-sign the life surge of the present that's saying such things? Which brings us to another piece of tape shared by Lauren Windsor. And I just got to disclose here, Kira, that I worked with Sage Steele at ESPN, I suppose. Technically speaking, she was doing extremely high-profile NBA studio show hosting gigs. I don't know her personally. We follow each other on Twitter, I guess. We have some mutual friends and colleagues.

But the thing that brings her to this story is that in 2021, for those unfamiliar, She was pulled off the air by the network after criticizing the company's COVID policy, their vaccine policy. And this made her this kind of anti-vax champion, this victim of cancel culture. And so she sued ESPN in 2022, eventually left the network after the lawsuit settled in 2023. And now she's an unapologetic pro-Trump supporter and also, yeah, does a bunch of Fox News appearances, as well as apparently stuff for Life Search. so i understand when we hesitate i understand why people just stay quiet it is real cancellation is real losing paychecks is real losing friendships and relationships is real but i can tell you your personal experience that what can come on the other side is beautiful i had no idea when i had my head on the table that day on august 14 2023 when my lawsuit was Settled. I won. I won.

So the theme is now defiance. Ed, for the record, PTFO also exchanged messages with Sage Steele's reps before publication of part one. In fact, and then again since then, and she has received questions related to our reporting about LifeSurge's alleged scam. But Sage Steele has not responded to our request for comment. But what LifeSurge has said is that, quote, with more than 3,000 Google reviews, the company has an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars, with 97% of users giving a 5-star rating. LifeSurge is proud of that record while continuing to look for ways to improve. Anyone can attend a LifeSurge event, often for as little as $20, hear multiple speakers live and in person for a full day, and receive lunch.

How was that lunch? I mean, it was solid, I thought. A good deal. A sandwich. But who else is sandwiching these faces on these posters now, right? There is Sage Steele. There is also the real-life Auntie Anne of the Pretzel Empire. She is refusing to cut ties as well. Well, there's also TV business guru Marcus Limonis of The Prophet. And we do know this because last Saturday in Hartford, Connecticut, we assigned PTFL producer Neely Lohman the same assignment that Mother Jones gave you, Kira, which is to say, will you please spend your day at A LifeSurge event? Right now, there is an agenda that demands silence from people that want freedom in this country, freedom of speech, and there's especially, they demand silence from Christians.

And I said, we're not about to back down now. And the next thing you know, we were on 200 one-on-one interviews. All the CNNs and the Foxes and Good Morning America was in our living room. Charlie Kirk called us and wanted us on his show. What a great guy. Here I want to introduce you to the Benham brothers, the identical twins, Jason and David. The Benham brothers themselves were baseball players at Liberty University, and they were pretty good. Jason, an infielder, got drafted by the Orioles in the 37th round in the 98 amateur draft. David, a catcher, got drafted in the 12th round by the Red Sox.

You know, there's an agenda today to make you and your children perpetually, generationally dependent on the government. Why might that be, Hartford? Control. God doesn't want his people controlled by any government. When we create our own income, we're not beholden to anyone. We're also not a burden to anyone. We have the opportunity to be a blessing to everyone. That's what God wants for his people. But they are probably best known for the HGTV reality show Flip It Forward, or perhaps more specifically the fact that it got canceled in 2014 after people realized that the Benham Brothers organized rallies where they said stuff about how hurricanes are God punishing our society for homosexuality.

When we say that sexuality, there is no boundary. When we say that marriage can be whatever you want it to be, we are breaching the boundaries of God. And we as a country, on the anniversary of 9-11, 16 years after that horrific terrorist act took place in our country, God is speaking, repent. Yes, you've rebuilt, but it's time to repent. And in Hartford, they talked about exactly what Sage Steele talked about, cancellation. Do you know how good that felt to be financially bulletproof in today's cancel culture? But what felt so much better and still feels amazing to this day is that we are spiritually bulletproof and so are you.

And so we were curious, how many people are attending LifeSurge events after our reporting and after Thibaut paused his relationship with them? So what we can now say, according to our sources inside of LifeSurge, this is in Charlotte and in Hartford, roughly 1,400 people still showed up to these events. You heard some of their applause there. And I think even more useful to observe here specifically is how successful in the room the sales pitch that you saw in Atlanta and Neely saw in Hartford proved to be when it came to signing up for these impact classes. which is still like the center of the story to us.

You pay your $97 at the main one-day event, and you sign up for these impact classes where in turn you are then offered the opportunity to buy these very pricey packages of financial education that can cost tens of thousands of dollars. And so at least in the Atlanta event, people were like rushing down to these tables. They were told that the venue size was going to be limited for the impact classes that the deal was only good for today. You had to, you know, rush down there to get the best deal. And people were taking out their credit cards and just shelling out $97 and signing up. That video, these photos, which you saw in Atlanta and Neely saw in Hartford, what was witnessed in Charlotte and all around the United States, apparently, according to our sources.

That's the thing that has been haunting me. Here you have a... So we were just talking about this crucial point of sale, this crucial point in the show when workers break out this fleet of handheld credit card readers, as you saw yourself, and people sign up. These are the attendees, the Christians, who have felt something enough that they wanted to pay more money to attend the thing that they've been told can provide them with the next step, whatever that next step is towards financial salvation in their lives. And what LifeSurge says, what they've said this whole time, is that these events are not bait and switches that only exist to generate leads where you lure such seemingly vulnerable Christians in with cheap tickets and lunch and Tim Tebow or Sage Steele and then funnel them into these allegedly predatory impact classes.

They say this is not what's going on here. Right. And in Hartford on Saturday, in the aftermath of our reporting, Sean Marcel, who's the president of LifeSearch, said something that our inside sources say is new. So we are led by the foundation of our faith, but we step out, informed by our faith, and we still have to make practical life decisions. So today, we also lean in a very practical nature. So when we go from worship into sometimes very practical, I don't want you to know what just happened. Are you with me? Say, if you're with me, say, I am. So I want you to know today is going to be a day of inspiration.

How many of you need a little encouragement today? How many of you need God to reignite something in your heart? Come on, let me hear from you if you want. And there's nothing wrong with being inspired. There's nothing wrong with getting your heart posture correct before God. But we also need practical next steps. So LifeServe is more than just an inspirational day. We're also a powerful education platform where we teach and train people how to create multiple streams of income, through stock trading and real estate and business development. And today, a portion of that day will be dedicated to that.

And so what I want to encourage you is to lean in and learn. Which sounds a bit like a disclosure. Not everything is for everybody. Sure does. A disclosure that, according to our sources, was not present previously before our reporting. And I also want to point out that what LifeSearch has always worn as the shield against these allegations is also the online reviews. the thousands of positive Google reviews averaging 4.8 stars, more than 3,000 of them as well as their Trustpilot score which is 4.4 with 580 reviews all of which is to say look, the people here, they love this they love these events even if you media types have all of these unfair criticisms of it which is why I think it is now especially important that we try to follow the money

And yeah, he wanted to make sure everything went smoothly on what seemed like this incredibly exciting and enormous new account. But what he saw, apparently, was kind of staggering.

which is this third-party vendor is now alleging a parallel version, it feels like, of what LifeServe students, the customers whose payments Brad was processing, have described to you and me. Right down to Christianity actually being a key part of their pitch to him, to Brad. It's one of their pressure techniques when they're dealing with their merchant partners. They use, oh, give us a break, give us a better price.

We're a Christian organization. You know, we don't have as much funds as other organizations. Dude, I've got your tax returns. I've got your corporate financial statement. You've got money pouring out your ears. You have to pay your bills. And when Brad Logan said very casually that last part near the end about how, dude, I've got your tax returns. I've got your corporate financial statement. That's where I think both of us had the same thought. Can we see them?

And it raises the inevitable question, then, of what the speakers themselves, right, the alleged bait, what they themselves knew about any of these classes. Right. And in the statement to us, LifeSurg CEO Jeremy Nosek told us that the company does not ask its headline speakers to promote or endorse impact classes.

Which now takes us to yet another internal LifeSearch document that we've obtained titled Talent Engagement Agreement. And I should say, to be clear, that this appears to be an unsigned standard template from LifeSearch for such a document. And I just want to draw your attention to the very first numbered item in this agreement. 1A, services and term. The following services are to be provided by the talent to the producer. And in this section, it lists one item of particular interest, I think, to us. Impact Class Student Reception. Talent agrees to participate in post-event Q&A and reception. And so again, look, we've heard of the VIP receptions before.

This may well be that. And we don't know who signed a contract that had this exact language in them. This is just a template. it. But if we're going to refer to impact class student reception in a contract and you're going to enroll in those impact classes in part because there's a VIP being advertised to you, I can imagine how encouraging it might be to hear somebody like, you know, let's just say hypothetically, Tim Tebow say something like this. I know that many of you today have probably signed up for classes have probably signed up to take the next step. And I want to encourage you to finish that, to follow through, to follow through on that commitment, to finish strong.

And we'll reiterate here again that Tim Tebow has not responded to our request for comment. But Kira, there is just another thing that I want to bring up that didn't quite add up when we were reviewing this, which is that according to these financial documents, LifeSurge, as you put it, was on track for $72.8 million in revenue in 2024. That's as of the Q1 document. But their net profit, right? So their actual bottom line, once you take out those other costs and stuff, that was a lot smaller. As of Q1 2024, it was $919,042. Less than a million in bottom line net profit. Kind of wild in my perhaps amateurish financial analysis, but it brings us to the other portion of this document in which you learn that, oh, by the way, LifeSurge every single year is also taking millions of dollars in this un-itemized line item just called overhead allocation.

Right. In Q1 of 2024, they spent $2.5 million in overhead against $3.4 million in gross profit. And in 2023, that total annual sum, they spent $8.9 million in overhead. And we wanted to know, what is that? Can we itemize that, perhaps? And so when we asked LifeSearch for detail about whether those overhead line items may include executive salaries, executive bonuses, for instance, they did not provide such itemization. But what is inarguable, according to these documents, as we have them, is that the margins of Life Surge's business, Kira, are thin. They're almost shockingly thin. And while Sage Steele and the Benham Brothers, to their everlasting consistency, are defying apparent cancellation, they are holding on, refusing to get off the stage.

LifeSurge's audiences, what we've seen in person, as well as from our sources, it's been shrinking since our reporting came out. The funnel has been disrupted. Lead generation. It's becoming harder. And it raises this question that we here at PTFO decided to ask Brad Logan at the end of this interview that we did about where he thinks the business of LifeSurge could maybe go from here. They're going to end up shutting this. They're going to milk this for everything it's worth. They're going to shut it down. They're going to rebrand it and come back as something else. And there is just sort of like this ominous sort of warning embedded in that quote from Brad of like, it's cute that you guys are doing all this reporting.

And it's cute that you can disrupt the funnel and the numbers can dwindle down maybe even to zero one day in terms of people who are aware and want to still sign up for these impact classes. But there's almost like this, and you think that's going to be the end of the story, kind of a warning. Right. There's so much more that LifeSurg has in store. And I don't know if you're ready for the second coming. Oh, I'm ready. But the incoming, as we amass documents, has been profound, frankly. It's been amazing. The number of people who have wanted to share with us has been really inspiring. And while neither of us, of course, can speak for Tim Tebow's investigation.

And we await those results, Kira. I do think the good news is also the bad news for us, which is that I think there's probably another reporting trip in our future. Sounds like it. And we'll talk to you next time with the discover cash back card it's payback time when you earn cash back on everyday purchases activate and earn five percent cash back at different categories each quarter on up to fifteen hundred dollars in purchases that's five percent cash back at different places each quarter like grocery stores on gas and at Restaurants. It pays to Discover. Terms apply. See discover.com slash 5 for details.

I've got big news. I switched to Verizon and got the new iPhone 18 Pro. Shh. I can keep my old phone. And I also get the latest iPhone every year. Shh. Anything else? Verizon let me choose Apple Watch Series 12 or iPad on them. Everybody listen up. Shh. Switch to Verizon and get the new iPhone 18 Pro now. No trade-in needed. And the latest iPhone every year with Simplicity Plan. Plus, choose Apple Watch Series 12 or iPad on us. Simplicity plan with Simplicity Pro required. Plan and device payment purchase are separate agreements with separate terms. Service plan for watch or iPad required. Addition terms apply for all offers.

ACAST powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show we recommend. Hi, I'm Molly Graham, host of Work Life, a podcast from TED. The most important lessons about work usually aren't the ones anyone teaches you. They come from experience, from uncertainty, from figuring things out as you go. On this show, my expert guests and I explore how careers really unfold through change, through doubt, through the decisions that shape who we become over time. Because those moments aren't the exception. They are the work. Listen to Work Life wherever you get your podcasts.