Kanye’s Donda Academy Closes, Then Re-Opens: Report
Kanye’s Donda Academy reportedly reopened after it announced that it would be closed for the remainder of the 2022-23 school year, per The Times of England.
The school’s principal, Jason Angell, reportedly emailed students’ parents with the news. “Our leadership team will be working diligently to assist all families during this transition, ensuring that every scholar has what they need to succeed in their next community in a prompt and gracious manner.”
In the email to parents, Angell said the school plans to “begin afresh in September of 2023” pic.twitter.com/WJWVDySM1L
— The Times and The Sunday Times (@thetimes) October 27, 2022
According to The Hollywood Reporter, West lost an educational consultant for the school who resigned after the rapper tweeted antisemitic remarks.
But just a few hours after the email announcing the school’s closing, according to TMZ, parents and students of Donda received an email reading, “Join us tomorrow morning in worship for the return of Donda Academy. With the help of our parents and community, we are back and returning with a vengeance!”
It continues: “The children of Donda are going to change the world. Apologies for the late email! See you bright and early!”
This news follows a prior report from TMZ revealing that the school’s basketball team had been removed from the Scholastic Play-by-Play Classics schedule in response to Ye’s recent actions.
Scholastic Play-by-Play Classics said in a statement that West’s “words and actions violate our values as a company and a country, and what we seek to ensure at all of our events — a spirit of diversity, sportsmanship, inclusion, equity and mutual respect.”
Donda was originally slated to compete at the December 11 event in Louisville.
Athletes Aaron Donald and Jaylen Brown have also decided to join the host of companies that have cut ties with Kanye West. They were signed to Kanye’s Donda Sports division up until Tuesday (Oct. 25) when they announced their departure.
“Our family has made the decision to part ways with Donda Sports,” Donald shared in a joint statement with his wife, Erica. “The recent comments and displays of hate and antisemitism are the exact opposite of how we choose to live our lives and raise our children. We find them to be irresponsible and go against everything we believe in as a family.”
They continued, “As parents and members of society, we felt a responsibility to send a clear message that hateful words and actions have consequences and that we must do better as human beings. We do not feel our beliefs, voices and actions belong anywhere near a space that misrepresents and oppresses people of any background, ethnicity or race.”
Boston Celtics shooting guard Brown decided to double back on his previous statements tweeting, “In the past 24 hours, I’ve been able to reflect and better understand how my previous statements lack clarity in expressing my stance against recent insensitive public remarks and actions. For that, I apologize. And in this, I seek to be as clear as possible. I have always, and will always, continue to stand strongly against any antisemitism, hate speech, misrepresentation, and oppressive rhetoric of any kind.”
After having conversations with others, the NBA star added, “There are times when my voice and my position can’t coexist in spaces that don’t correspond with my stance or my values. And, for that reason, I am terminating my association with Donda Sports.”
— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) October 25, 2022