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In a week’s time, Kanye West has lost all ties to his professional career. After being dropped from The CAA Talent Agency, Adidas, Balenciaga and JPMorgan Chase, now Donda Sports reps Rams DL Aaron Donald and Celtics forward Jaylen Brown are the latest to provide a statement on their decision to part ways with West.
Brown’s decision to sever ties with Donda Sports comes after he told Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe on Monday that he was going to stay with the organization:
“The reason why I signed with Donda Sports, it represented education, it represented activism, disruption. It represented single-parent households, and a lot more people are involved in something like that.
“A lot of people that I work with, work with their families, build love and respect for, spending time in the summer. A lot of people involved. That’s what the organization from my vantage point from Donda Sports represented.”
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— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) October 25, 2022
— AD_99 (@AaronDonald97) October 25, 2022
At the time of aligning himself with Donda, Donald told I am Athlete podcast: “It was an opportunity.. My wife actually does my marketing. You know she does a lot of my marketing. So it was an opportunity that came to us — me and her — you know it made sense … The family atmosphere that they got at Donda Sports, and my wife being a part of that, for me it was a no-brainer.”
What is Donda Sports?
According to Bleacher Report, Donda Sports was founded in early 2022, and describes itself as an agency committed to offering a wide array of support for athletes on- and off- the playing ground. Donald was the sole NFL athlete signed to the brand, and Brown served as the only NBA player signed as well.
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“Donda Sports was founded with the vision of providing holistic support to athletes during and beyond their sports career,” the agency said in a statement released in February. “Donda Sports is a limitless organization centered on professional and wellness support in equal measure with the ambition to work with athletes across all genders, divisions, and sports.”
The agency was an offshoot of West’s seemingly new-founded interest in sport. West established Donda Academy, a pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade Christian private school, in 2021. The school fielded a basketball team, the Donda Doves, who had multiple games televised on ESPN.
Equally controversial and relentlessly problematic, Antonio Brown, president of Donda Sports, released a statement on Tuesday night expressing support for his “brother,” Ye.
#DONDA pic.twitter.com/IkvsAlEKWU
— AB (@AB84) October 26, 2022
A superstar talent who got in his own way so much that he’s effectively cancelled himself from the NFL, AB sympathizes with West’s kindred spirit. However, his unflinching support is but a drop in the bucket which once overflowed for West – who like AB – is no longer given passes for their skill, but held to account for their humanity.
Losing much more than his reputation, West’s antisemitic words have effected his personal wealth as well. Ye is no longer a billionaire, according to Forbes. The publication reported Oct. 25 that he’d lost his spot on its list of billionaires after being dropped by Adidas for his string of antisemitic rhetoric. The Adidas deal was reportedly worth $1.5 billion.