Kanye West has weighed in on the recent allegations made against him regarding how his Donda Academy was allegedly being run, denying it was a “dystopian institution” designed to satisfy his own “idiosyncrasies.”
In April, Ye’s Donda Academy came under fire when two of the school’s ex-teachers — both of whom are Black women — filed a lawsuit against the embattled school, West personally, and three of its directors, for allegedly firing them on the basis of their race.
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The two women, Cecilia Hailey and Chekarey Byers, also claimed that they were fired because they reported education, safety, and health code violations to the authorities. Hailey claims she raised the issues to the directors at the school but nothing was done.
They alleged that both children and teachers alike were not allowed to sit in chairs, thus forcing them to either use foam cushions, stools, or simply stand throughout class.
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They claimed that students were forced to wear black from head to toe — with Nike and adidas brands of shoes strictly forbidden — that students were physically locked outside during the school day, and that students weren’t allowed to go outside until it was time to return home.
The suit also claims that “throughout the entirety of Plaintiffs’ employment, the only lunch available for students was sushi, every single day. Students were not allowed to bring any outside food or anything other than water. It was widely known that Defendant West spends $10,000 a week on sushi.”
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However, West has denied all allegations of wrongdoing in new court documents obtained by RadarOnline, and he’s demanding that all claims brought against him by the two former Donda Academy teachers be dismissed.
“The truth is, Ye has nothing to do with Donda’s policies, practices, and procedures relating to employee pay and wage statements. Surely, Plaintiffs know that,” the documents read. “But — as unfortunately is commonly the case for Ye, a famous artist and businessperson — in the present action, Plaintiffs have haphazardly tossed a meritless and barebones guilt-by-association theory into their complaint to garner press attention and the resulting settlement pressure that comes with it.”
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His response continued: “Plaintiffs misleadingly depict the Donda Academy as a dystopian institution designed to satisfy Ye’s idiosyncrasies. None of it is true and the allegations do a disservice to the Donda Academy’s current staff and students and their parents who will attest to their positive experience as this case proceeds.”
West — who is asking the court to dismiss the claim over alleged wage violations — has also denied the allegations that students had no chairs and had mandatory sushi lunches. Donda Academy has yet to respond.
Hailey and Byers aren’t the only former teachers from Donda Academy — which was shut down in October 2022 following Ye’s antisemitic rants — to file suit against the Hip Hop and fashion mogul.
It was revealed earlier this month that West was being sued by a third former Donda Academy teacher, Timanii Meeks, who was dismissed from her position after allegedly notifying the Simi Valley private Christan school’s authorities that the building was unsafe.
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According to NBC News, Meeks filed a lawsuit with the Los Angeles County Superior Court on June 1 after she was fired in October following complaints from children’s parents of her classroom having no books.
Meeks is repped by the same employment law firm as Hailey and Byers, West Coast Trial Lawyers, which believes the teachers’ 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 claimed.
