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Amid growing fervor after Kanye West's recent antisemitic comments, Rams DT Aaron Donald and Celtics forward Jaylen Brown parted ways with West-owned sports agency Donda Sports on Tuesday, cutting ties with the rapper's agency less than a year after signing on.
Both athletes released statements detailing the reasons why they opted to leave.
"The recent comments and displays of hate and antisemitism are the exact opposite of how we choose to live our lives and raise our children," Donald said in a joint statement with his wife, Erica. "We find them to be irresponsible and go against everything we believe in as a family."
— AD_99 (@AaronDonald97) October 25, 2022
Brown, who told the Boston Globe's Gary Washburn that he wasn't planning on terminating his relationship with the agency on Monday, signaled a change of heart after "sharing in conversations."
— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) October 25, 2022
Donald and Brown were the only two active professional athletes on Donda's roster prior to their departure.
The Sporting News examines Brown and Donald's relationship with West and what led to the termination with West's Donda Sports agency.
Kanye West's controversial, antisemitic remarks
West made headlines in early October for wearing a 'White Lives Matter' sweater to the Yeezy fashion show in Paris.
He also tweeted that he would "go death con 3 on Jewish people," a post that was later removed by Twitter. Additionally, Instagram locked West's account for multiple instances in which the rapper disparaged Jewish people.
West also parroted conspiracy theories and other controversial, unfounded right wing tropes to other media outlets. He also spoke of the “Jewish underground media mafia” and says his “death con 3” remarks were in reference to when “Black musicians signed to Jewish record labels and those Jewish record labels take ownership” were a form of “modern day slavery.”
Corporate partners sever ties with Kanye West
Donald and Brown's decisions come after waves of corporate sponsors ended their deals with West, including Balenciaga and Adidas.
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."
It continued: "After a thorough review, the company has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately, end production of Yeezy branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies. adidas will stop the Adidas Yeezy business with immediate effect.
Adidas produced West's high-end Yeezy line of sneakers since 2016, which was characterized as "the most significant partnership created between a non-athlete and a sports brand." West had previously challenged the company to drop him for saying "antisemitic things."
"Adidas can't drop me," West said.
On Tuesday, the shoe and apparel company did just that, as did Brown and Donald.
LeBron James' The Shop indicated it would not air an interview with West because he used the platform to “reiterate more hate speech and extremely dangerous stereotypes.”
What is Donda Sports?
Founded in early 2022, Donda Sports proclaimed itself as an agency committed to offering a wide array of support for athletes on- and off- the playing ground.
“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. The 45-year old 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.
MORE: What is Donda Academy?
In February, Donda Sports inked a deal with former Bucs wide receiver Antonio Brown. In a statement released but the agency when Brown signed, Donda Sports indicated that Brown was enlisted to "bring an athlete's perspective to all aspects of the organization."
"Donda is about ownership, empowerment, and discovering the next superheroes,” Antonio Brown shared in an Instagram post earlier this year. “This is for the people who counted us out, for everyone who said we can’t— we say WE WILL."
Donald and Brown announced their intention on joining the agency back in May.
Aaron Donald history, timeline with Kanye West and Donda Sports
It's uncertain quite when Donald and West linked up, but in an appearance on the "I Am An Athlete" podcast, Donald indicated that it was the family atmosphere of Donda Sports that drew him and his wife into the venture.
"It was an opportunity," Donald said on the podcast. "...My wife actually do 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."
According to Donald, West even asked the future Hall-of-Famer to appear in one of his music videos. Donald declined to do so, however.
The two were pictured hanging out with Brown and Floyd Mayweather during Mayweather's 45th birthday party back in February.
West name-dropped Donald's restructured contract during one of his latest television rants, telling Piers Morgan that he wanted a chance to "read Aaron Donald's contract."
MORE: Why Rams' Aaron Donald signed with Kanye West's Donda Sports
Jaylen Brown history, timeline with Kanye West and Donda Sports
Brown's relationship with West goes back a few years. In a 2019 appearance on Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson's "All The Smoke" podcast, Brown revealed that he snuck into the 2017 Louis Vuitton fashion show — with looks curated by the late Virgil Abloh — and sat next to West and Travis Scott.
Brown and West continued to build a rapport over the years, with Brown inking a deal to become the first NBA player to sign with Donda Sports back in May.
"For what I want to do, the missions I want to get accomplished, it was the right decision," Brown said in June. People have concerns or critiques about [West] but in the world we live in, there's concerns and critiques about any and everything."
In September, West posted a video of Brown playing basketball with Donda Academy students on social media, further spotlighting the budding partnership.
Jaylen Brown got DUNKED on at Donda Academy 😂
— Kicks (@kicks) September 3, 2022
(via @kanyewest )
pic.twitter.com/IHCER1X2yq
Brown initially stood by West and Donda Sports, though disavowed his antisemitic statements, telling The Boston Globe that he was still going to be represented by Donda Sports.
"The reason why I signed with Donda Sports, it represented education, it represented activism, disruption," Brown said. 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."
Nonetheless, it appears things changed for Brown after a day of reflection.
"After sharing in conversations, I now recognize that there are times when my voice and my position can’t coexist in spaces that don’t correspond with my stance or my values."
Kanye West and Donda Sports have not commented on the departure of their only two clients.
