BOYCOTTS/CAMPAIGN FINANCE/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Dressed in workout clothes, Lulu Hall hovered by the front door of the SoulCycle studio while fighting back tears. She had already signed up for Thursday’s [8-8-19] 10 a.m. indoor-cycling fitness class when she learned that Stephen Ross, the chairman of the Related Companies, whose principals own majority stakes in SoulCycle and the fitness club chain Equinox, was planning to host a fund-raiser at his Hamptons home for President Trump on Friday [8-9-19]. Different levels of access will be offered to donors, including a photo with the president for $100,000. Ms. Hall, a stay-at-home mom who lives in Brooklyn and nearby Sag Harbor, N.Y., is a regular SoulCycle customer who has found inspiration in the brand’s message of sweaty spirituality and community. But she is not a supporter of Mr. Trump’s, and was alarmed to realize the money she spends at SoulCycle, where 45-minute classes held in the Hamptons cost $42, was profiting a Trump booster who would be hosting the president at his home just a few miles from her morning ride…Political fund-raisers hosted in the Hamptons by wealthy New Yorkers are an annual August rite. Yet news that Mr. Ross is supporting Mr. Trump’s re-election efforts was met with a swift outcry on social media, with indoor cyclers and club members vowing to boycott.”
–Katherine Rosman, “They Paid $42 for a SoulCycle Ride, Not for Trump,” The New York Times online, August 8, 2019