A pair of celebrity chefs, José Andrés and David Chang, have taken aim at President Donald Trump billionaire backer Stephen Ross –who owns high-end fitness companies SoulCycle and Equinox and the NFL team Miami Dolphins — urging him to cancel a planned fundraiser for the president in Southampton this weekend.
“Steve if you’re listening, and I know you listen to this podcast sometimes, I respect and admire you as a businessman…but I’m imploring you to reconsider hosting this fundraiser,” said Chang, the founder of the culinary brand Momofuku, a business that Ross invests in. “It flies in the face of everything we believe at Momofuku. it frightens many of the people that work for you, and it contradicts much of what I hoped to accomplish by taking your money in the first place.”
David Chang continued to go after President Trump on his podcast Thursday, saying “I personally am a staunch opponent to President Trump and everything he stands for. I fucking hate him: anyone who normalizes gun violence, white supremacy, putting kids into cages, his general lack of decency and respect for anyone else. He is destroying our Democratic norms. I cannot stand behind him.”
Earlier this week, Hollywood leftists publicly announced their decision to cancel their membership at SoulCycle and Equinox, the luxury fitness companies owned by Billionaire Stephen Ross. The dustup kickoff after Ross’ Trump fundraiser became front page news.
Elsewhere, celebrity chef José Andrés — whose New York City restaurant Mercado Little Spain sits on a land development owned by a real estate firm chaired by Ross — begged the billionaire to cancel his Trump fundraiser.
“I respect a person’s right to politically support who he chooses but these are not normal times!” the chef said on Wednesday. “So I ask u Steve Ross to use your conscience! Cancel this fundraiser for @realDonaldTrump.”
“We have no space for breaking Americans apart when the beginnings of our country are based on three words, ‘We The People,’ and we the people means, unfortunately, not supporting anything that has to do with the reelection of Donald Trump,” Andrés said.
It’s safe to say that Ross isn’t backing down in the face of boycott threats.
Ross affirmed his support for Trump, saying, “I have known Donald Trump for 40 years, and while we agree on some issues, we strongly disagree on many others and I have never been bashful about expressing my opinions.”
Jerome Hudson is Breitbart News Entertainment Editor and author of the forthcoming book 50 Things They Don’t Want You to Know, from HarperCollins. Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson.
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