Kanye West‘s Donda Academy is being sued by two former teachers in a bombshell wrongful termination lawsuit, as the educators made a series of disturbing allegations about what really went on at the school.
Court documents obtained by DailyMail.com detail allegations made by Cecilia Hailey and her daughter Chekarey Byers, who claim to have witnessed children at the secretive academy being fed just one meal of sushi a day while sitting on the floor.
They claim they were discriminated against based on their race, had wages illegally held from them, and were terminated from the school in retaliation for reporting code violations.
Among the bizarre and unsettling allegations made against the school are that all color, including artwork, was banned from inside classrooms, everyone was forced to wear all black from head to toe and classes were banned from the second floor because West was ‘afraid of stairs’.
The $15,000-a-year academy, which Byers described as ‘like a mental hospital being run by the patients’, was opened by West in California in 2021. West is now facing damages in excess of $1 million alongside the school and three of its directors.
Kanye West is facing a string of bombshell allegations related to practices inside his Donda Academy school. Pictured: Kanye West stops to chat with the paparazzi and sign autographs as he exits his daughter North’s basketball game in Thousand Oaks in October 2022
The rapper allegedly subjected students at the school to bizarre rules, including that they cannot have classes on the second floor because he is ‘afraid of stairs’. Pictured: Ariel pictures and general views show the Simi Valley site where West’s Donda Academy once was
Shortly after taking a job as a fifth-grade teacher in January 2023, Byers alleges that she began noticing numerous unsettling rules and practices inside the school, including rampant bullying and a lack of any security measures in the high-profile academy.
After raising concerns over the repeated health and safety violations and unlawful education practices with school principal Moira Love, the lawsuit states that ‘no action was taken’ to remedy the issues.
As well as claiming that students were fed only one meal a day of sushi, they were also prohibited from bringing any outside food or drink other than water onto the campus.
‘It was widely known that West spends $10,000 a week on sushi,’ the lawsuit claims.
Students were allegedly banned from using ‘crossword puzzles’ or ‘coloring sheets’, while West would not allow the schoolkids to go outdoors during the day, even for lunch or recess.
The rapper would also ban all classes from taking place on the second floor of the academy because ‘he was reportedly afraid of stairs’, per the lawsuit.
According to prior reports, parents at the school were required to sign non-disclosure agreements to enroll their children in the academy.
In October, parents at the school revolted after hearing that Donda Academy would be shutting its doors amid the collapse of West’s empire following a series of anti-Semitic outbursts, leading it to remain open.
Although it was previously believed that the exclusive Christian school would close its doors, it was revealed last year that the secretive academy had in fact moved locations to Simi Valley.
Students at West’s Donda Academy wear Balenciaga uniforms designed by West himself. The lawsuit claims they were forced to exclusively wear all black. Pictured: Boston Celtics player Jaylen Brown with a group of Donda students during a visit to the Academy
The school reportedly enrolled about 100 students and 16 teachers, with a number of students being the children of celebrities. Pictured: Boston Celtics player Jaylen Brown with a group of Donda students during a visit to the Academy
The pair allege West ‘did not want children to use forks or utensils’ and he required that cups and bowls exclusively be the color gray.
The Yeezy fashion mogul also allegedly ‘did not like jewelry’, leading him to ban teachers and children from wearing any, while chairs were also prohibited from the academy as he forced children to either sit on foam cushions or stand.
The former teachers allege a series of health and safety codes were also repeatedly violated at the school, which included doors at the academy being locked from the outside, which would be a fire hazard.
Byers and Hailey, who say they were the only two black female teachers at the school, are seeking wrongful termination damages after allegedly facing racial discrimination.
This included being subjected to ‘stereotypes about African American women as being confrontational’ after raising concerns over the school’s practices.
When Hailey threatened to take her complaints up the hierarchy directly to West, ‘she was threatened not to reach out to him,’ according to the lawsuit.
‘We’re standing up because its the right thing to do. This is not about trying to defame a celebrity. This is about the right thing to do for these children,’ said Hailey.
Both women claim they were fired on March 3, 2023, in the academy’s parking lot ‘without reason’. Dailymail.com was told the plaintiffs are now seeking in excess of $1 million in damages.
West is being sued in excess of $1 million in the bombshell lawsuit. Pictured: Kanye West is seen leaving the VOGUE World: New York in September 2022+8View galleryWest is being sued in excess of $1 million in the bombshell lawsuit. Pictured: Kanye West is seen leaving the VOGUE World: New York in September 2022
Among the allegations made against the rapper’s school was that he banned students from going outside, even at recess. Pictured: Ariel pictures and general views show the Simi Valley site where West’s Donda Academy once was+8View galleryAmong the allegations made against the rapper’s school was that he banned students from going outside, even at recess. Pictured: Ariel pictures and general views show the Simi Valley site where West’s Donda Academy once was
The lawsuit goes on to allege teachers were not being trained in basic life support, no nursing staff were employed on campus and while a lack of security saw students allowed to be picked up by strangers from the campus without any sign-in procedures.
Rampant bullying and assaults frequently took place at the school, per the lawsuit, because no disciplinary procedures were in place to address them.
Additionally, the lawsuit bizarrely alleges that there were no cleaning staff at the academy, because West ‘did not believe in cleaning products containing chemicals, so teachers were only allowed to clean with acid water and microfiber cloths’.
The rapper allegedly banned Nike and Adidas from being worn on campus, as he was said to insist everyone wore only his designer apparel in all black ‘from head to toe’.
‘Kanye West is clearly as bad at running a school as he is at managing his own personal and professional life, enabling an unsafe and illegal school environment for students that also discriminated against the plaintiffs based on their race,’ said the pair’s attorney Ron Zambrano.
‘These egregious violations at Donda Academy are just another example of West’s unusual behavior, and our clients just won’t stand for it, no matter his celebrity status.
‘Kanye needs to realize his genius is in creating music, not in school administration.’
West allegedly banned all color from inside classrooms, including artwork, alongside prohibiting chairs and jewelry. Pictured: Kanye West on October 21, 2022 in Los Angeles, California+8View galleryWest allegedly banned all color from inside classrooms, including artwork, alongside prohibiting chairs and jewelry. Pictured: Kanye West on October 21, 2022 in Los Angeles, California
Speaking about the lawsuit, Byers said: ‘I’m extremely sad about all of this. It was such a huge honor and privilege to work at Donda Academy for Kanye West.
‘I’m a huge Kanye fan. His first album was the first I ever purchased. I still enjoy his music, and I’ll never deny his talent, but while his vision for the school sounds great on paper, it’s just pure chaos and mutiny.
‘It’s like a mental hospital being run by the patients.’
The scandal-hit rapper has faced numerous issues with his private Christian school since he opened the institution in 2021.
After the rapper’s antisemitic outbursts captured headlines and led to the collapse of his music, fashion and real estate empire, Jewish staffers at Donda Academy quit in droves.
Poet Malik Yusef, who has previously identified himself as an ‘administrator’ at the school, told the New York Post in November how ‘staff members of the Jewish faith were lost’ in the weeks since the artist flew into several discriminatory rants.
