This Just In From Kristian Laliberte!

Publicist Kristian Laliberte has written in response to our account of what happened at last Saturday’s Artists for Living with a Life-long Ambition (LWALA) benefit auction, when over 40 society figures advertised on a media tip sheet publicizing the event failed to materialize.

When The Observer contacted the representatives of supposedly confirmed guests like Lydia Hearst and Olivia Palermo, they told us that they had not R.S.V.P.-ed to the event, nor even recalled being invited.

An employee at Mr. Laliberte's outfit, Unruly Heir, had offered a fuzzy explanation involving the event being held on a weekend, the guests not receiving reminders, etc.

Now Mr. Laliberte is seeking to clarify what happened: “I sent the board a tip sheet that was meant to be used as an example, but the board thought that I was indicating that I'd invited these guests,” he wrote in a statement CC-ed to his attorney, adding that he has been "extremely ill and going through personal issues during the planning of this event," which prevented him from attending. “We simply experienced internal miscommunication."

Mr. Laliberte said he's still onboard to publicize the organization's annual gala in November.