Aaron Donald and Jaylen Brown have announced their departure from Kanye West’s Donda Sports following his recent anti-Semitic comments. Multiple corporations, including Adidas, had previously announced the end of their partnership with West, now officially known as Ye.
Donald, an all-pro and Super Bowl-winning defensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams, and his wife, Erica Donald, said in a statement released Tuesday that the choice was taken in part because to Ye’s recent “responsible” remarks.
The message read, “Our family has decided to split ways with Donda Sports.” “The recent expressions of hatred and antisemitism are diametrically opposed to how we chose to live our lives and raise our children. They are irresponsible and go against all we as a family stand for.”
“As parents and members of society, we felt obligated to send a clear message that hateful words and deeds have repercussions and that we must do better as individuals,” the two stated. Our values, voices, and actions do not belong in an environment that misrepresents and oppresses people of any background, ethnicity, or race.
The Boston Celtics guard Brown recently announced his departure from Ye’s sports marketing agency. Brown told The Boston Globe on Monday that he would not leave Donda Sports despite his disagreement with Ye’s antisemitic remarks.
Brown issued an apology and stated that his earlier words “lacked clarity” in a statement on Tuesday.
Brown added, “Over the past twenty-four hours, I’ve been able to contemplate and better see how my previous statements lacked clarity in articulating my position against recent insensitive public remarks and actions.” I sorry for it. I will endeavor to be as transparent as possible. I have always spoken firmly against any antisemitism, hate speech, misrepresentation, and abusive discourse, and I will continue to do so indefinitely.
“I now see that there are several instances in which my voice and perspective cannot coexist in areas that do not align with my viewpoint or ideals… Brown stated, “I am ending my association with Donda Sports.”
Earlier in October, Ye tweeted that he would go “death con 3” on Jewish people, an apparent reference to the DEFCON system used by the United States military. Ye also uploaded screenshots of an alleged text conversation with Sean “Diddy” Combs in which he accused Combs of being under Jewish control.
In addition to his previous antisemitic remarks, Ye was attacked earlier this month for wearing a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt to his Paris Yeezy collection exhibition. According to the Anti-Defamation League, white supremacist groups and sympathizers have used the slogan in response to the Black Lives Matter movement. It appears that criticism of the garment prompted Ye to attack Combs.
Ye has also been criticized in the past for suggesting that slavery was voluntary and for referring to COVID-19 vaccines as the “mark of the beast.”
Multiple businesses have distanced themselves from Ye in response to the controversy raging around him.
Ye’s talent agency, CAA, dropped him within the past few days, and television studio MRC announced on Monday that it will shelve a completed documentary about him. Ari Emmanuel, the CEO of talent agency Endeavor, penned an opinion piece in the Financial Times urging all companies to cease dealing with Ye due to his antisemitism.
Tuesday, Foot Locker announced that it will “not be supporting any future Yeezy product drops” and that it had “instructed our retail operators to remove all existing Yeezy products from shelves and digital sites.”