Kanye West’s Donda Academy is closing for this school year
Kanye West’s private school Donda Academy is shutting down for this school year. Following the rapper’s recent antics and antisemitic remarks, the school is one of his fallouts. Legally known as Ye, he owns the school with a $15,000 tuition fee annually.
Kanye’s private school in California opened last year. Since then, the institution’s details have been a mystery. Its website only provides very few details about its faculty and curriculum. Rolling Stone reported that it has 100 students enrolled.
In addition, Donda Academy has required the parents of these students to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Furthermore, according to reports, the school was non-accredited, and classes involved parkour and choir.
Just 4 hours after shutting down, Kanye West’s Donda Academy announces it’s reopening:
“We are back and returning with a vengeance!" pic.twitter.com/QjYLOhnpkG
— Pop Base (@PopBase) October 27, 2022
Donda Academy principal Jason Angell sent an email that ESPN had a copy. In the email, Kanye West decided to close the school. He wrote in the email, “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 promptly and graciously. We intend to begin afresh in September of 2023.”
However, on Thursday, an email that TMZ has with the signature from “Parents of Donda” is saying otherwise. The email instructed for the return of the students to the school leaves the status uncertain. Although it’s still unclear whether the students will return, reports also said that several school teachers have quit following Kanye’s misbehaviors.
Kanye West’s other affected endeavors
Aside from the shutdown announcement, Donda Academy’s boy’s basketball team, with three invitations from prominent schools, has also been canceled. Two of those who invited and canceled are the Hoopball Classic and Kentucky Play-by-Play Classic.
A lot of great teachers parents and students are affected by this.. It is easy to speak from the outside looking in I spent time at Donda academy and it is alot better than some public schools in America with a better curriculum high school students were fully accredited https://t.co/bQzHUDaTf4
— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) October 27, 2022
In addition, Scholastic Play-by-Play Classic also eliminated Donda Academy’s basketball team from participating. Its founder Jeremy Treatman expressed his regrets about the possible effects on the basketball team’s players. “Kanye’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. While we are firm in our reasoning for this decision, it does not diminish our heartache and regret for Donda’s hardworking student-athletes who will lose the most due to Kanye’s actions.”
Another tournament where the Donda Academy team was supposed to play replaced them with another. The City of Palms Classic replaced them with The Patrick School on Thursday. Moreover, Donda’s basketball team includes Robert Dillingham, ranked no.8 in the ESPN 100, with the other top-50 seniors Javonte Taylor and A.J. Johnson.
Donda Academy boys’ basketball teams cancellations
These tournaments are a huge stepping stone for the academy’s basketball aspirants hoping to receive college offers. Some of the huge names who have gone to play on these are LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Durant.
Furthermore, the school’s closing followed Kanye’s most recent fallout, the Adidas deal. Due to the Grammy-award winner’s controversies, including his Paris Fashion show event, where he wore a “White Lives Matter” shirt, Adidas also decided to end their partnership with Kanye.
In addition, his antisemitic remarks in interviews and his social media accounts also led to Twitter and Instagram restricting his reports. Moreover, Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown and LA Rams star Aaron Donald announced their departure from the Donda Sports Agency this week.
