Kanye West may want to reconsider his decision of not wanting to apologize for his anti-semitic remarks because according to reports, his Donda Academy basketball team is now being affected by his recent controversies. According to TMZ, the Scholastic Play-By-Play Classics have confirmed that they have given Donda the boot from this season’s schedule, consequently meaning they will not get to participate in their sports events this year.
It’s a pretty huge deal considering that Play-By-Play is the number one high school basketball event company in the country that has five national locations, with the likes of Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, and Kevin Durant all having previously played there prior to landing their big break in the NBA. It’s said that the Donda basketball team was initially expected to play in a match on December 11 in Louisville, but those plans have since been scrapped.
Kanye West losing deals because ppl don’t want to work with a man spewing antisemitism and bigotry of all kinds, is not being cancelled—it’s business—and the consequences of his own actions. None of us are above losing opportunities because we’re acting a fool, remember that
— Olayemi Olurin (@msolurin) October 25, 2022
In an official statement, the Scholastic Play-By-Play said that West’s recent “words and actions violate our values as a company and a country, and what we seek to ensure at all of our events — a spirit of diversity, sportsmanship, inclusion, equity and mutual respect.” Furthermore, they said that while they stand by their decision to remove the team from their tournament, their thoughts went out to the “hardworking athletes” who are missing out on what would’ve been a dream opportunity all because of Ye’s behavior.
“Unfortunately, we cannot in good conscience host an organization founded and directed by Mr. West at our events,” they concluded.
October has been quite the month for West, who has been getting “canceled” left to right from endorsement deals to his former industry friends, including Vogue editor-in-Chief, who released a statement last week that she does not stand by Ye’s words against the Jewish community and that Vogue would no longer be doing business with the rapper.
Balenciaga and talent agency CAA followed suit and decided to end their partnerships with West, followed by the news on Tuesday that Adidas had officially dropped its deal with Ye following a three-week review that was ignited by a string of unpleasant words about the Jews on social media.
FACT: Before Kanye West was “the face of Anti-Semitism,” he was one of the hip-hop faces of misogynoir, anti-Blackness, Trumpism, and slavery-denial.
And y’all still gave him contracts, documentaries, endorsements, clothing deals, and millions that became billions.
Shame.
— Ernest Owens (@MrErnestOwens) October 25, 2022
Foot Locker and Gap have since announced that they will be removing all of their Yeezy products from their stores immediately following Adidas’ decision to part ways.
“Foot Locker, Inc. does not tolerate any form of antisemitism or hateful and discriminatory behavior. While we remain a partner with adidas and carry a wide assortment of their collections – we will not be supporting any future Yeezy product drops,” a spokesperson for Foot Locker shared.