Kanye West has become that awkward controversial celebrity no one really wants to be related to anymore. From problematic and racist declarations to being fined for immoral behavior while vacationing, it seems that Ye isn’t even close to going back to the icon he used to be.
Kanye isn’t only dealing with the judgment of the world and his fans, but he’s also facing a legal lawsuit for his once-popular Donda Academy. Back in 2022, Ye opened this religiously based school for pre-kindergarteners through 12th-graders. As promoted, Donda’s (named after the rapper’s late mother) mission is “to provide the youth with the passion, purpose, and spiritual foundations they need to thrive in tomorrow’s world.” Statements like this has lead people to believe that more than an academic institution, Donda is more of a cult-like association.
Problems at Kanye West’s Donda Academy
Things didn’t start as expected since just months after being opened, it had to be shut down for some hours due to West’s antisemitic remarks. This was controversial enough, but the school’s directives sent a message to the parents that pretty much sounds like Kanye himself wrote: “We are back and returning with a vengeance! The children of Donda are going to change the world!”
For the rest of the school year, things seemed to be normal. At least on a public level. However, in the Spring of 2023, several lawsuits against the school became public. Parents realized that the Donda Academy was pretty much Kanye’s project to push his ideological agenda into the minds of young children.
I mean, if that past message was the school’s official memo after being closed for some horrible comments its founder made, it’s no shocking that education is the least priority of the institution. Not only that, it’s definitely a huge red flag the fact that none of Kanye’s four kids are enrolled in the school! But let’s carry on because this isn’t the only matter involved in the lawsuits.
The Lawsuits Against Donda Academy
Racial Discrimination and Wrongful Termination
In April 2023, Cecilia Hailey and Chekarey Byers, two teachers at Donda Academy, sued the school for discrimination. They claimed they were the only black female teachers hired at the institution and that they had experienced severe discrimination. They claim they were falsely pointed out as “aggressive” whenever they voiced their concerns regarding the proper education of the students. The teachers were eventually terminated a month before filing the suit without a valid reason.
After their termination, Hailey and Byers revealed the random limitations kids had at the school. They declared that the children were only fed sushi for lunch and were forbidden to have recess outdoors or even do crosswords. Not only that, many claims against the institution state that Kanye himself had banned books about black history and that discipline wasn’t a priority at the school.
More Unjustified Layoffs
In June, another teacher joined Byers and Hailey in their lawsuit. Timanii Meeks claimed she was also fired after showing her concerns about the conditions at Donda Academy. She stated in the court documents that she “had witnessed illegal and disturbing code violations” that included exposed electrical wiring, loose baseboards, and no educational material in classrooms. She also expressed her concern about how assault and bullying went unpunished at the school.
By July, Isaiah Meadows, the Gym teacher at Donda Academy, also sued after being laid off a year ago. He revealed he was fired in the Summer of 2022 in retaliation for expressing his concerns regarding safety issues; according to the professor, the school had no windows! The building only had a skylight with no glass because “West expressed that he did not like glass,” which sometimes emitted a “moldy smell.”
Following Meek’s concerns regarding safety matters, Meadows also exposed that the school had no working hot water and had an overflowing septic tank that could be a hotbed of infections.
What’s Next For Kanye’s School?
This August, Hailey and Byers finally got a jury trial date scheduled for April 2025. At the moment, West’s attorneys are trying to take him out of the case claiming that he has “nothing to do with Donda’s policies, practices, and procedures relating to employee pay and wage statements.”
Naturally, this is going to be hard to achieve since he has openly talked about the project and his whole involvement in its creation based on his ideas and beliefs.
