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'It's like a mental hospital: Ex-teachers bring fresh allegations against Kanye West's Donda Academy

Former teachers have sued Kanye West's Donda Academy, alleging racism and feeding children the same food every day, among other things

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Kanye West is getting sued by two of the former teachers of his school Donda Academy for allegations including racial discrimination and students getting fed with sushi every day. The two teachers, Cecilia Hailey and her daughter Chekarey Byers have allegedly informed in the lawsuit that they have witnessed children being fed only one meal of sushi every day which they have while sitting on the floor.

Hailey and Byers also claimed that racial discrimination was rampant in the school and they were subjected to that. It is also reported that their wages were unlawfully withheld from them.

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In the lawsuit obtained by Daily Mail, it has also been reported that the Academy which opened in 2021, has banned all forms of color from its classrooms, including art projects. The classes are not held from the second floor onwards as the ‘Monster’ rapper is afraid of stairs.

The two ex-teachers described the school “like a mental hospital being run by the patients” in the alleged lawsuit. They joined the school in January 2023 and since then they have been noticing the bizarre practices of the school. While they took up the concerns to the principal Moira Love, they were paid no attention to and no remedy was found.

The lawsuit also claimed that students could not use any crossword puzzles or coloring sheets in the school. They are also not allowed to go outdoors during school hours. West has banned the usage of brands like Adidas and Nike and insisted on the students wearing an all-black outfit that the 'Heartless' rapper designed himself. The pair also said that West has a say on the utensils and that he “did not want children to use forks or utensils”.

The ‘Everything We Need’ hitmaker has also banned the teachers and students from wearing any jewelry in the school and the students do not get any chairs to sit on. Instead, sitting on the ground on top of foam cushions or standing is preferred.

Hailey and Byers claimed that they were the only two black teachers who were racially discriminated against and when they thought of taking the issue to the higher-ups including West himself, they were threatened not to. On March 3, they were unceremoniously handed the termination letter at the school’s parking lot.

Hailey said, “We're standing up because its the right thing to do. This is not about trying to defame a celebrity. This is about the right thing to do for these children,” as they come up with the allegations that the school has no nursing and cleaning staff and that the teachers are not well trained in life support.

Byers, who too lost her job, said, “I’m extremely sad about all of this. It was such a huge honor and privilege to work at Donda Academy for Kanye West,” before adding, “I’m a huge Kanye fan. His first album was the first I ever purchased. I still enjoy his music, and I’ll never deny his talent, but while his vision for the school sounds great on paper, it’s just pure chaos and mutiny.” She also commented that “it’s like a mental hospital being run by the patients.”

It was also reported earlier that the rapper engaged in a verbal spat with his estranged wife Kim Kardashian over which school their children would be enrolled in, with the Yeezy founder clearly preferring his own school.

School’s sudden closure in October 2022

The Newsweek 90 reported in October that the school was closed in October with just a day’s notice. The then principal Jason Angell sent an email to the parents of approximately 100 enrolled students that, "at the discretion of our Founder, Donda Academy will close for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year effective immediately. [...] THERE IS NO SCHOOL TOMORROW."

The closure of the school came in the wake of Ye’s huge financial losses incurred after his antisemitic comments. The rapper’s net worth plummeted from a whopping $2 billion to a moderate $400 million dollars.

The school, however, reopened only some hours later.

'Something smells fishy about this'

One user commented, "Ye should ask them what they’ll like to eat. Based off each kid choices make them healthy. Than just see how much each item is consumed each day for the next year. Based off that he’ll see what he should put out and have less of." Another exclaimed, "Donda Academy is still around?? Oh man." A user questioned, "Rich enough to have Mutiple options for different lifestyle or are they paying a lot of money for bare minimum."

Another user mused, "Sushi as the only option isn’t necessarily a diversed nutritional plan." One Kanye West fan responded, "That does it. this is where i draw the line, i am no longer a kanye west fan! time and time again i have stood up for him but this? this is unacceptable it time for me to pack up my things and listen to REAL music (destroy lonely)." Another user added, "Fish has crazy levels of heavy metals lol, not good to eat more than 1-2x a week, especially not for children."

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