Kanye West purchased a piece of land in Los Angeles earlier this year hoping to move his Donda Academy there, but his plans were thwarted by the local community soon after — new pictures of the property reveal that it has since been abandoned.
On Tuesday (December 19), The Sun published a series of photographs of the $1.5 million estate that Ye bought from Cornerstone Christian Church in the Northridge neighborhood back in March.
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The images show that the building is currently in a state of decay with shopping carts and broken furniture littered in the surrounding area. What the premises is like on the inside remains unknown as it has been completely boarded up.
“I had no idea Kanye bought it but,” a resident of the locality said. “It’s not a good look for the neighborhood, he needs to clean it up, you don’t want a bum breaking in and living there.”
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Another provided some clarity on the upkeep, adding: “I see someone come and check the property every few weeks to make sure it’s OK, but they haven’t done anything to it, it’s been empty for months.”
Check it out below:
Earlier this year, the fashion mogul’s plans of moving the Donda Academy campus from Simi Valley to the church mentioned above came to a screeching halt after thousands of people petitioned against it.
An early-August report by Radar Online showed that over 12,000 residents of the neighborhood pushed back against Ye’s hopes to relocate his controversial school. He had been hoping to do so since November 2022, when he met with Pastor Ronald Nagin several times to discuss the shift.
Over 2023, the academy’s enrollment has dropped immensely alongside the Chicago native’s plummeting reputation that was brought about by his blatantly antisemitic remarks last year, among countless other issues. Still, sources close to him have conveyed that he has no plans of discontinuing the institution named after his late mother.
Though the parents who send their children to West’s school haven’t commented much on the state of affairs because they were made to sign NDAs, the establishment is currently negotiating three lawsuits.
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In early June, Kanye was sued by former Donda Academy teacher, Timanii Meeks, who was dismissed from her position after allegedly notifying the Simi Valley private Christian school’s authorities that the building was unsafe.
According to NBC News, Meeks filed a lawsuit with the Los Angeles County Superior Court after she was fired last year after parents complained about her classroom having no books.
Meeks became the third ex-teacher to file a suit against Kanye and California’s Donda Academy following Cecilia Hailey and Chekarey Byers earlier this year. The three are repped by the same employment law firm, who believes their firings were “retaliatory.”
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“Clearly, Ye has a big problem on his hands with this school, and the addition of Ms. Meeks to the complaint only serves to reinforce the nightmarish conditions for staff and students at Donda Academy,” attorney Ron Zambrano said.
He added: “Ms. Meeks was fired months before Cecilia Hailey and Chekarey Byers were terminated but all three clearly witnessed the same illegal and disturbing code violations and conduct at the school, and all three were given the same retaliatory and unlawful treatment merely for trying to stand up for the students’ rights to a meaningful education.”
