Ye's Donda Academy Closes for 2022-23 School Year

Ye’s Donda Academy has abruptly shut its door for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year, according to an email sent to parents from the Southern California school’s principal Jason Angell via The Times.

On Wednesday evening, Angell alerted the Academy’s families of its closure with the following message: “At the discretion of our founder, Donda Academy will close for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year effective immediately.”

“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,” Angell added.

Donda Academy is a largely mysterious and controversial entity. Opened in 2021, the unaccredited Christian school requires parents to sign non-disclosure agreements and charges a yearly tuition of $15,000 USD. The academy has enrolled roughly 100 students, all of whom wear uniforms made by Balenciaga, a brand that recently parted ways with Ye. The school’s precise location in Simi Valley is not publicly known.

Donda Academy’s high-profile basketball team, the Donda Doves, was barred from two tournaments: the Spalding Hoophall Classic and Play by Play Classics. In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, the latter tournament’s organizers said, “Kanye’s words and actions violate our values as a company and a country.”

The school year’s cancellation comes after Ye stirred controversy during his Paris Fashion Week YZY Season 9 show with a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt and later with an antisemitic threat on Twitter. As a result of Ye’s disrespectful actions, myriad business partners and industry leaders have severed their ties with the artist, including adidas, Balenciaga, Vogue and its Editor in Chief Anna Wintour, film company MRC, Chase Bank and others.

Elsewhere, Foot Locker has pulled all YEEZY products from its physical and online stores.