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Soul crushing!
Ruth Zukerman, one of the co-founders of the spin class phenomenon SoulCycle, claims she didn’t ride off into sunset of her own will — but was ruthlessly given the boot by business partners Elizabeth Cutler and Julie Rice.
Zukerman, who went on to launch rival indoor cycling chain Flywheel, says in new documentary “Spin Wars” that she was blindsided when Cutler and Rice — whom she says she introduced to each other — told her in a meeting she was no longer a partner.
According to the doc, Zukerman had brought her loyal following from a Reebok Club cycling class to SoulCycle and was teaching a grueling 21 classes a week, all while helping develop the workout method that would turn the boutique fitness brand into a cult sensation. She had never signed any paperwork.
After delivering the brutal news, Cutler allegedly told her she could stick around as an instructor.
A 2010 New York Times article claimed Zukerman “left SoulCycle in November under circumstances that she said she is legally restricted from discussing,” and noted that “the remaining founders, Elizabeth Cutler and Julie Rice, seem intent on expunging their former partner from their past.”
“The company story at SoulCycle’s Web site doesn’t even mention her,” it said.
“Ruth worked with us for a time. We decided to part ways. We wish her the best,” Cutler and Rice told the Times.
While Zukerman — who wrote a book called “Riding High: How I Kissed SoulCycle Goodbye, Co-Founded Flywheel, and Built the Life I Always Wanted” — has talked about the betrayal before, she has not opened up in as much detail, explaining she felt now was the time.
“I kept it close to the vest, and as time went on, you know, we get older, and we start to look at life a little differently,” Zukerman said of her decision to tell her story during a screening of the film at the Hamptons International Film Festival. “I’m 68. I literally had a thought at one point two years ago . . . ‘Why am I not talking about this?'”
Zukerman, who was kicked out a year and a half after the company’s founding in 2006, says she did sign an agreement after her departure but “the language was a bit loose.”
“I would regret keeping this story secret,” she said. “It’s been very cathartic, obviously, to finally tell the story.”
The fitness class became well known for its dark candle-lit rooms and instructors who got close to students, sharing personal moments during class.
Zukerman says that her own vulnerability on the bike was what made her a good instructor, but left her exposed when it came to business dealings.
“[It] didn’t really serve me well with what happened with Julie and Elizabeth. I mean, look what happened,” she said. “And at the same time, it was a learning lesson for me, but I never gave up who I really was and I remained true to myself. I’m still, you know, to a certain extent — we change a little bit, but I’m still that person — and it has served me well. That’s a win, I think.”
Documentary director Philip Byron says he wants people to know the truth.
“What happened to Ruth is completely f–ked up and everyone needs to talk about it,” he said. “And hopefully it’s a lesson for all of us. . . we all can relate to getting screwed over.”
The movie, which first screened at the Tribeca Film Festival this June, also features Peloton co-founder Marion Roaman, Katie Couric, socialite Jill Kargman and comedians Mary Beth Barone and Heather McMahan.
Soul Cycle had around 99 studios at it’s height and brought in millions of dollars, attracting celebs like Madonna, Oprah Winfrey, Ashley Olsen, Harry Styles, Kelly Ripa, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Charlize Theron.
A source previously joked to Page Six that in the heyday, “It was like you had to know Michelle Obama’s cell number to get a spot in Vicky’s 6:15 a.m. [class] or whatever.”
The company struggled after the COVID-19 pandemic, closing roughly 20 studios in 2022 as part of a larger restructuring effort. More studios closed this summer. They also pared back instructor pay.