After the Hayride exclusively reported earlier today that unconfirmed reports from sources saying Whitney Plantation owner and New Orleans attorney John Cummings was apparently the private donor paying for the removal of the city’s four Confederate-related monuments, Cummings is saying that he is not the donor.

In an email late today, Cummings’ staff sent the Hayride this response to our previous report:

Cummings is the owner of the country’s first ever slave museum at the Whitney Plantation.

After Mayor Mitch Landrieu said that a private, anonymous donor had volunteered to pay for the removal of Lee Circle, PGT Beauregard and other Confederate-related monuments in the city, sources close to the Hayride said it was suspected that Cummings was involved as the donor.