A private school founded by the artist formerly known as Kanye West announced Wednesday night it was shutting its doors, but reports Thursday indicate the school may have reopened.
An email confirming the immediate closure was sent to parents by the school’s principal, Hollywood Unlocked reported.
“Donda Academy will close for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year effective immediately … THERE IS NO SCHOOL TOMORROW,” a portion of a screenshot showing the email sent Wednesday read.
The school did intend to reopen in September of 2023, according to the email.
Parents were then sent another email around midnight announcing the school was back “with a vengeance,” thanks to help from parents and the community, TMZ reported.
The message, signed “Parents of Donda,” did not elaborate on why the decision was made to reopen, nor who made the decision. KTLA parent company Nexstar has reached out to Donda Academy for clarification.
Donda Academy, founded by Ye in 2022, is an unaccredited Christian private school.
The academy, which was initially located in unincorporated Ventura County but is listed in some records as being in Chatsworth, is intended to “be a reflection of God’s glory in the world,” according to its website.
News of its closure was also reported by British newspaper The Times and ESPN.
The initial email did not go into detail about why the school was closing but Ye has recently been under scrutiny over antisemitic comments.
Earlier this month, the artist tweeted he would soon go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” making an apparent reference to the U.S. defense readiness condition scale known as DEFCON.
His antisemitic rhetoric prompted him to be locked out of his Instagram and Twitter accounts.
German sportswear company Adidas cut ties with West, or Ye, earlier this week.
“Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech. Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness,” Adidas said in a statement.
Ye also suggested slavery was a choice and called the COVID-19 vaccine the “mark of the beast,” among other comments. He also was criticized for wearing a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt to his Yeezy collection show in Paris.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include more information about the location of Donda Academy.
