Kanye West’s Donda Academy has closed its doors following the rapper’s recent anti-Semitic statements.
According to The Times, parents of Donda Academy students received an email on Wednesday (October 26) from the school’s principal Jason Angell, informing them the private institution “will close for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year effective immediately.”
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The email also stated: “There is no school tomorrow [Thursday],” while telling parents: “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.”
Donda Academy suffered another blow on Wednesday when it was reported the school’s basketball team, the Donda Doves, was denied entry into two national high school basketball tournaments: the Play-By-Play Classic in Louisville, Kentucky, on December 11 and the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Massachusetts on January 15.
“I just feel like it was a no-brainer and I just don’t want to be associated with his school right now,” said Play-By-Play Classic organizer Jeremy Treatman, who is Jewish. “We, as a company, cannot normalize these words and behavior and hate message. We just can’t with good conscience have them.”
Kanye West opened Donda Academy – named after his late mother — in Simi Valley, California in September. Prior to its closure, the $15,000-a-year Christian school aimed to “prepare students to become the next generation of leaders,” according to its website.
The high-profile academy has come under its fair share of scrutiny. It was reported that parents were made to sign non-disclosure agreements for their children to attend, while the curriculum apparently included unorthodox subjects such as parkour.
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Donda Academy’s closure comes amid a growing number of organizations and individuals cutting ties with Kanye West over his inflammatory remarks. Earlier this week, adidas terminated their lucrative Yeezy partnership, slashing Ye’s personal net worth from $1.9 billion to $400 million, according to Forbes.
More recently, Footlocker, TJ Maxx and the exercise bike company Peloton have also distanced themselves from the Chicago rap mogul, while Madame Tussauds have removed their wax figure of Mr. West from their London museum.
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The backlash stems from Kanye’s recent attacks on Jewish people, who he’s accused of controlling the media and weaponizing peers like Diddy against him. In a since-deleted tweet that got him suspended from Twitter earlier this month, Ye vowed to go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.”
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He also sparked outrage by wearing a “White Lives Matter” shirt and suggesting George Floyd was killed by fentanyl, not disgraced ex-cop Derek Chauvin kneeling on his neck for almost nine minutes.
