It’s safe to say Equinox is in full damage control mode.
In the wake of a PR disaster after investor Stephen Ross hosted a fundraiser for Donald Trump (and subsequently raised $12 million to reelect the president), Equinox chairman Harvey Spevak released a memo to gym members, and the national press following the story closely, touting a new initiative to donate $1 million to five charities.
Spevak addressed the controversy, writing:
“Many of you have asked for clarification on Stephen Ross’s investment in Equinox. Mr. Ross is not the majority investor in Equinox. He is one of the investors including myself. He does not run the company. I do. I am the Executive Chairman of Equinox and have led the vision and strategic direction of the company since I joined in 1999. Our focus has always been about building a community centered on our values, not politics.”
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Related: Memers come for Equinox and its Trump-supporting owner
Celebrities and activists have called on members to drop ties with Equinox and sister gym SoulCycle, as well as a number of other interconnected lifestyle brands, over Ross’s involvement in politics.
For his part, Ross said in a statement to The Washington Post that he plans to counter Trump on policies he disagrees with. He called himself “an outspoken champion of racial equality, inclusion, diversity, public education and environmental sustainability.”
Of course, it’s hard to take him seriously as a champion of these causes when the Trump administration fails so miserably on each item.
Related: Gay Twitter responds to the Equinox Fitness/Trump fundraiser debacle
Spevak’s memo went on to introduce a new charity initiative:
“While I don’t have all the answers, what we have heard from many of you is that you would like Equinox to immediately help amplify your voice in support of causes we as a community have always held close. As a next step, Equinox will make a $1 million donation to benefit the five charities mentioned above. From August 17 through August 31, every check-in will be an opportunity for our members and employees to select how our donation will be allocated among the causes.”
“We will continue to listen to your thoughts and ideas,” he concluded, “and while we have a lot of work to do, I am confident that together we will come out a stronger community.”
When the story first popped up in headlines last week, many criticized the company’s initial response as insufficient:
Will this new charity donation be enough to neutralize the negative brand association?
Billy Porter, Billy Eichner, Zack Bornstein, Chrissy Teigen, Jonathan Van Ness and Brittani Nichols are among Equinox’s high profile now-former members who have publicly supported the boycott.
Cam
Stephen Ross is part of the parent company that owns Equinox and SoulCycle. Profits from those companies go directly into his pocket. He raised over $12 million dollars to get Donald Trump reelected. Trump has just pushed new anti-LGBTQ initiatives in addition to his nomination of bigoted judges.
If the profits stop flowing into his pocket, he doesn’t have the money to give to Trump. Boycott his businesses, and Equinox’s partners should be more careful whom they associate with in the future.
Kangol2
Beautifully stated!
truthseeker
@Cam
You sound like a broken record. People from all businesses donate to Presidential candidates. President Trump has received donations from the Postal Service, Bank of America, Boeing, American Airlines, AT&T, State Farm, United Airlines, Bang Energy, Pizza Hut, KFC, McDonalds, Taco Bell, Olive Garden, Marvel Entertainment, Versace, Estee Lauder, Revlon, Home Depot, Facebook, and many, many, many more.
Are you going to boycott those businesses too? I bet your internet provider even donated. Maybe you should cancel your internet
topshelf
@truthseeker
That’s the way it works. If the owner of a company turns on you, you don’t support the company. This isn’t just a member of management writing nasty internal emails. Ross is the founder, chairman and single most important person within Related.
Cam
@truthseeker
My My My….it’s almost as if the Republican troll account doesn’t support Capitalism.
truthseeker
@Cam
That reply doesn’t make sense. I never said I was against capitalism. I asked if you’ll boycott and stop using businesses / services that donated to the President Trump campaign which include all of the ones I listed. Will you?
If not, then you are being hypocritical.
innocentgay
@truthseeker What a bullshit handle, btw; you seek truth like roaches seek the light. So no, if you mean the USPS when you say “Postal Service,” then no, it has not made any political donations, and doing so with government resources would in fact violate the Hatch Act. Otherwise yes, I fully intend to boycott any and all companies who donate to that ignorant, racist sexual predator to the best of my ability as soon as I hear that they have done so.
truthseeker
@Innocentgay
You should check the website OpenSecrets and the FEC website then.
If you’ll boycott all those businesses, who is your internet provider and phone service with? I guarantee both have donated something to the Trump campaign
Paco
The charitable donations should match the same dollar amount that was raised for Trump.
Chrisk
I agree. 1 million is a cheap gesture considering. As Cam says. You’re just a cog in the machine that Stephen Ross owns.
IWantAFullBeard
The reality is that the only people who really support Trump are poor, white, religious fanatics. They are also not the majority. They are a minority that used gerrymandering and the undemocratic Senate to further their bizarre social policies. These aren’t the people who use Equinox, who run universities, who really have any benefaction to the world at large. And therefore most businesses will find that avoiding politics or just directly being against Trump is the safest bet to appeal to the majority of Americans – both literally as well as financially.
Chrisk
I agree and why this is baffling. Equinox is made up of a large gay clientele and liberal minded people. Talk about biting the hand that feeds ya.
jimontp
While I agree with you, there are other people who support Trump: white supremisists, Neo- Nazis, NRA members in love with their AK-47s, and of course all the virulent anti gay thugs.
What I find ironic is that in Spevak’s memo, he mentions all these CAUSES that billionaire Ross supports- ALL of them Trump is attacking, so why is Ross supporting Trump? MONEY, Soulless GREED.
I can never quite understand why gay men would EVER go to one of his gyms. Why?
IWantAFullBeard
And these neo-Nazis are they using Equinox?
Kangol2
@IWantAFullBear, quite a few very rich people like Ross support Trump. They are a minority of the total voters out there, as you say. Evangelicals overwhelming support him. Look at the most recent favorability polls; his supporters are overwhelming White men, middle aged, and they are not poor. According to the most recent polls, a bare majority of White men support Trump. No other demographic does. Also, they skew heavily to the middle and upper middle class.
Tellingly, he is underwater (favorability vs. unfavorability) in states like Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Florida. And Texas!
truthseeker
Liberals just spin multiple contradictions. One moment they’ll say “the ONLY people who support Trump are poor drug addicts”, then the next moment, “the ONLY people who support Trump are the rich because they’re greedy”
So if the ONLY people who support Trump apparently are the poor and the rich, who supports liberal candidates?
In actuality, Trump’s base consists of all types of people. Liberals are just sour because all of the 2020 Democratic candidates are lackluster and they know this. So they’ll stop at nothing to demonize Trump voters and ANYONE who disagrees with their disastrous policies.
Chrisk
who supports liberal candidates?
People who care about equality, the environment, healthcare, education, jobs, and fair taxation. Not just whoring themselves to the rich and insane religious base.
Cam
@truthseeker
Translation: This article is about a bigot whose business is being boycotted. Just trying to keep you on topic sweetie.
truthseeker
@Chrisk
If liberals really cared about those things then they wouldn’t support the disastrous policies they claim to support. If liberal voters truly cared they would want less taxes for everyone (they don’t), less business regulations which would drive down pricing and increase competition (they don’t support that), more privatization (they prefer more government programs), strong borders to prevent drops in wages (they want open borders), less immigration from crime invested countries resulting in more welfare costs (they want open borders and free everything for people coming here illegally – source Democratic debate), less government spending and less money spent on foreign aid (they oppose this too), etc.
If liberals cared so much about improving those things, they’d support actual policies that help. Instead, as seen from the Democratic debates, they want flimsy border controls that aren’t enforced, higher taxes for everyone including the middle class, more people on government programs, more regulation and barriers to entry for new businesses, higher spending, and a less incentive based economy.
The liberal answer to every problem is to throw more money at it and hope that it goes away.
Rock-N-RollHS
You are clearly living in a self-deluded bubble. You clearly have no idea how many rich folk and power-brokers support Trump. Quite a lot. And they have the majority of the country’s money and run many of the goods and services you use.
truthseeker
@Rock n roll
More “rich folk” support Mayor Pete. He’s received support from 23 billionaires. Should he be demonized?
JaredMacBride
Like other small storms, this one has already blown over. Equinox my have lost few members, or maybe they picked up some. Who knows.
IWantAFullBeard
Did you read the article? Equinox, a for profit company, just gave away $1m solely because of this situation. That’s a loss for a company.
And yes, I’m sure Suzy Beth Appletree with the Mormon church, living in the middle of rural Louisiana, and head of her local Republican chapter raced over to Equinox to show support.
jimontp
Are you yet another Russian bot? Or are you just another gay man who will roll over for any rich businessman who will take your money and screw you over while your basic rights are slowly eroded?
IWantAFullBeard
Huh? Lol
IWantAFullBeard
Ad hominems are used for those with nothing better to say. But stupid ad hominems are reserved for morons like yourself.
dhmonarch89
$1 million for charity…ah, no- he needs to give $12 million to whoever Trump’s Democratic opponent is!
Cam
If they are panic donating after first blowing off the controversy, that says that they lost enough members to terrify them.
RandomGuy
The Russians have landed at Queerty they must really have a lot of time on their hands these days.
david_warner
If you support Trump, you don’t deserve gay dollars. If you’re posting here and you’re gay and support Trump, you’re a traitor. If you’re posting here and you’re not gay … well … really? You’re not gay? Screw that … your closet is showing.
kookookachoo
Can you identify the five that they intend to donate to?
bigcanoli
Ah, sorry, I won’t be bought off for a measly lame $1M donation. As long as Steve Ross is an investor, profits/dividends/etc are being funneled to support misogynist Trump, blatant racism and aggressive anti LGBT policies that really hurt people. We’re not a bunch of Trump chumps. Ross needs to go! #boycottequinox