Celebrity chef and restaurant founder praises Stephen Ross as a businessman but says he is on ‘the wrong side’

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The celebrity chef David Chang has called on the billionaire investor Stephen Ross to cancel a fundraiser for Donald Trump that has triggered threats of a boycott of businesses backed by Ross.

Ross was an early backer of Chang, author and founder of the Momofuku restaurant group. In a podcast Chang said: “This is a complicated situation for me, personally, and I know it raises a lot of questions for people who dine at our restaurants.”

Equinox and SoulCycle face boycott over investor's Trump fundraiser Read more

Chang praised Ross as a businessman and for his support but said he was on “the wrong side”.

“I personally am a staunch opponent to President Trump and everything he stands for. I fucking hate him,” said Chang.

Ross, chairman and majority owner of The Related Companies, a real estate development firm, and owner of the Miami Dolphins, has come under intense pressure to cancel a fundraiser planned for Friday at his Sandcastle estate in the Hamptons, New York.

Tickets for the event, which start at $5,600, will go to Trump’s 2020 campaign funds and the Republican National Committee. A private conversation with Trump will cost $250,000.

News of the fundraiser, first reported by the Washington Post, set off a series of protests and threats of boycotts at businesses backed by Ross including fitness companies SoulCycle and Equinox. Both companies have branded themselves LGBTQ-friendly and Ross’s support of Trump, whose administration has moved to roll back LGBTQ protections, has angered the community and its supporters.

Kenny Stills, wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins, has criticized Ross for fundraising for Trump at the same time as backing the Ross Initiative In Sports for Equality (Rise) whose mission is to empower “the sports community to eliminate racial discrimination, champion social justice and improve race relations”.

Trump has made a series of racists statements and been a critic of black football players protesting against racial injustice.

“You can’t have a non-profit with this mission statement then open your doors to Trump,” Stills wrote on Twitter.

The model and author Chrissy Teigen, Queer Eye host Jonathan Van Ness and One Tree Hill actor Sophia Bush announced on Twitter that they had canceled their memberships and a series of protests are planned outside the companies’ facilities.

christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) rough day at equinox pic.twitter.com/CNxrQUbpCQ

Chang is the second celebrity chef to call on Ross to cancel the fundraiser. José Andrés, a persistent critic of Trump whose Spanish Market is housed in Ross’s Hudson Yards development, has also called for Ross to “do the right thing”.

José Andrés (@chefjoseandres) I respect a person’s right to politically support who he chooses but these are not normal times!. So I ask u Steve Ross to use your conscience! Cancel this fundraiser for @realDonaldTrump You are a good man.Don’t support a candidate whose goal is to drive my beloved USA apart! 🙏 pic.twitter.com/mTMhCZsmzl

In a statement Ross said he has known Trump for 40 years. “While we agree on some issues, we strongly disagree on many others … I have been, and will continue to be, an outspoken champion of racial equality, inclusion [and] diversity,” Ross said.