Chrissy Teigen yesterday (August 8, 2019) in on news that billionaire Stephen Ross is hosting a $250,000-per-ticket-fundraiser in his Southampton, Long Island home on August 9th to help reelect Donald Trump. Long known for her progressive views, Teigen suggested her friends end their memberships at and SoulCycle, both of which are owned by The Related Companies, a holding firm whose board chairman is Ross.
The company also owns Pure Yoga, &pizza, Bluestone Lane Coffee and Momofuku. Once listed on its website, the list of companies owned by Related Companies has been removed.
On Instagram live, Teigen stated, “Hello, I don’t normally make posts like this, but a lot of my very cool, socially aware, progressive, awesome, amazing friends are members of Equinox or SoulCycle and I just want to let you know that they’re owner is hosting a giant Trump fundraiser so fuck them. Cancel your memberships today. You can come to my house and work out. So yea, just think about it. If you’re fine with that, cool, go right ahead, but if you’re not and I know a lot of you are not fine with that, cancel!”
In response to calls for boycotts, Equinox posted a statement describing Ross a “passive investor,” a false description given Ross’ role as executive chairman of The Related Companies’ board. SoulCycle claimed profits are not used to fund politicians, which is also false. While the chain may not specifically donate to political causes, Ross uses profits from SoulCycle to make contributions to almost all Republican candidates.
Responding to the uproar, Ross issued a statement to CBS Miami in which he referenced his many donations to Republican candidates. Ross said, “I always have been an active participant in the democratic process. While some prefer to sit outside of the process and criticize, I prefer to engage directly and support the things I deeply care about.” Ross contributed to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign in 2012, but sat out Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Flying in the face of Trump’s lengthy record of racist statements, practices and policies, Ross went on to claim, “I have been, and will continue to be, an outspoken champion of racial equality, inclusion, diversity, public education and environmental sustainability, and I have and will continue to support leaders on both sides of the aisle to address these challenges.”
Check out Teigen’s statement along with the false statements from Equinox and SoulCycle below.
