Kanye West’s Donda Academy has closed amid backlash relating to the rapper’s recent anti-semitic comments.
Parents of children who attend the school in Southern California were told via email that the academy has closed with immediate effect.
In the email, which was viewed by The Times, Principal Jason Angell said: “At the discretion of our Founder, Donda Academy will close for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year effective immediately.”
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Referring to Thursday 27 October, the email added: “THERE IS NO SCHOOL TOMORROW.”
Named after West’s late mother, Donda Academy is located in a secret location in Simi Valley and charges $15,000 a year, with families made to sign non-disclosure agreements to prevent leaks.
According to The Times, there are about 100 students enrolled at the academy, along with 13 full-time teachers.
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Principal Angell said the school plans to ‘begin afresh’ in September 2023.
The email continued: “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.”
It added: “We are confident that our scholars will continue to advance as the creative innovators, courageous influencers and academic leaders of the next generation.”
UNILAD has contacted the Donda Academy for a comment.
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West came under fire for recent anti-semitic comments about ‘going death con 3 on Jewish people’, which got him banned from Twitter.
He was also kicked off Instagram for saying: "Ima use you as an example to show the Jewish people that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me."
While West doubled down on his remarks, saying he felt ‘glad’ to be banned from the social media sites and was ‘happy to have crossed the line’, he does admit his comments were racist.
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In an interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored last week, West was asked if he regretted what he said.
"No, absolutely not,” he replied.
“Absolutely not. Absolutely not."
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But when he was challenged by the presenter, who said his anti-Semitic comments were 'as racist as anything you say you've been through', West then said he did think that his comments were racist.
He said: "Yeah obviously, that's why I said it. Yes, I fought fire with fire, I'm not here to get hosed down, it's a different type of freedom fighter.”
Later in the chat, West then offered up an apology for the 'hurt and confusion' he caused with his comments.
He said: "You know I will say I'm sorry for the people that I hurt with the 'defcon', the confusion that I caused.
"I feel like I caused hurt and confusion and I'm sorry for the families of the people that had nothing to do with the trauma that I had been through, and I used my platform where you say hurt people."
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact Stop Hate UK by visiting their website www.stophateuk.org
Topics: Kanye West, Celebrity
Jess Hardiman