Students at Kanye West’s tuition-based private Christian school will not complete the school year after parents were told Donda Academy was closing immediately on Wednesday, according to reports.
According to The Times of London, which obtained an email from Donda Academy principal Jason Angell, the school will close for the remainder of 2022-23 “at our founder’s discretion.”
The closure has been in effect since Thursday.
West, who legally changed his name to Ye, established the school — named after his late mother Donda West — in August 2021 in Simi Valley, Calif., for K-12 students.
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The school’s closure comes amid growing outrage over several anti-Semitic remarks made by Ye, 45, in recent weeks.
Angell told parents that the school will “start again” in 2023. “Our leadership team will work diligently to support all families during this transition, ensuring that each scholar has what they need to succeed in their next community in a quick and graceful way, “Reads the email.
“We are confident that our scholars will continue to progress as creative innovators, courageous influencers, and next-generation academic leaders,” Angell concluded.
There is little publicly available information about Ye’s unaccredited school. Rolling Stone reported in September that Donda Academy families are required to sign a nondisclosure agreement — and pay more than $15,000 (about $20,301) in tuition per school year. Students are also required to wear light gray uniforms produced by fashion house Balenciaga.
The Times claimed there were less than 100 students and 13 full-time teachers at the school.
The Donda Academy website claims that students learn “fundamentals, grow in their faith, and experience two enrichment courses.” Daily lessons included full school worship, language arts, math, and science, and enrichment classes including world language, visual arts, film, choir, and even parkour.
Over the past month, outrage over Ye’s anti-Semitic comments has led to the cancellation of several of the rapper’s projects and led to widespread condemnation from dozens of celebrities.
Ye’s Twitter account was restricted this month after he tweeted that he would go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE”. (A reference to the Defense Readiness Condition – DEFCON – used by the United States Armed Forces.) The tweet was removed for violating the app’s hate speech policy.
Ye’s Instagram account had previously been restricted after he publicly suggested that rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs was controlled by Jews.
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On Tuesday, Adidas severed ties with Ye following intense public pressure. Adidas said it would immediately stop production of all Yeezy-branded products and cease all payments to Ye.
After Ye’s partnership with Adidas ended, Forbes reported that the rapper was no longer a billionaire. Ye’s ultra-exclusive and mega-popular Yeezy sneakers have brought him and the German sports brand huge annual profits.
Ye, who is active on Instagram again, replied with a message, writing, “I lost $2 billion in one day / And I’m still alive.”
“Money is not who I am / People are who I am,” he concluded.
He previously posted that he too, as Ye, cut ties with Kanye West.
On Wednesday, Ye visited the Sketchers’ Los Angeles headquarters unannounced. The company said he was escorted off the property after “engaging in unauthorized filming”.
“Skechers does not contemplate or intend to work with West,” the company said, adding that it condemned his recent anti-Semitic comments.
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Over the past month, Balenciaga, Vogue, record label Def Jam, major talent agency CAA and movie studio MRC (which had funded and filmed a documentary about Ye) have all parted ways with the artist.
In September, Ye claimed to have terminated a 10-year contract with Gap after just two years due to “substantial non-compliance”. This week, the company said it was taking immediate action to pull its Yeezy Gap line from its stores.
As of this writing, Ye has not made any public comment on Donda Academy’s closure.
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