Kanye’s Donda Academy Lawsuit Accuses Rapper Of Wanting A ‘Jail’ In School

A former employee at Kanye West's Donda Academy is accusing the rapper of wanting to put children who were misbehaving in a "jail" at school, requiring the students to be in cages. Trevor Phillips filed the suit for the now-closed institution for spewing antisemitic views and praising Hitler.

“By filing this lawsuit, we hope our injured clients’ rights are vindicated, and that the famous artist Mr. West understands that his messages — which we alleged preach discrimination, antisemitism and Hitler-love — have no place in the world,” Phillips' attorney Carney R. Shegerian said in a statement per People.

Phillips claims that his controversial and racist remarks were in earshot of children at the school.

"In front of the schoolchildren, Kanye continued his dangerous rhetoric. Kanye started to openly discuss how he only likes to date White women," the complaint reads. "Then addressing the two school children, Kanye told them that he wanted them to shave their heads and that he intended to put a jail at the school — and that they could be locked in cages. The staff quickly distracted the children, and escorted them out of the room."

As for more discriminatory remarks towards the staff, Phillips claims that Ye would “scream [at] and berate” his Black employees but did not act in this way toward White staff members. The rapper also allegedly would threaten to fire anyone who was "fat."

Prior to working with Kanye at Donda Academy, the employee was a fan of the artist.

"His dream of working for someone he once admired as a great artist was like his spirit — crushed," the complaint says. "While Kanye considered himself a god or king, in reality he was an ill-tempered tyrant and despot, who sought to mentally obliterate and control those around him."

Last year, Ye was sued by two Black women who used to teach at Donda Academy and were later fired. They were allegedly fired for "retaliation for sounding the alarm on alleged education, health, and safety code violations and for their race."

According to the lawsuit obtained by TMZ, the women said they were hired full-time earlier in 2023. They said that they were the only Black teachers at the Academy. They noticed the "numerous health and safety violations, unlawful educational practices and extremely unusual rules at Kanye's school" early into their employment.

One of the alleged issues that was brought up was that the students only had one available lunch option which was sushi. Parents allegedly were not allowed to provide their children with lunches. Additionally students weren't allowed to bring any outside food or drink, except for water. The suit alleges that the rapper spent $10,000 a week on sushi for the school. Ye also allegedly didn't want children using forks or utensils.

The lawsuit from the former teachers is scheduled for an April 2025 trial. Ye has not responded to neither of the lawsuits at this time.

Before Kanye was the rapper, entrepreneur, and trendsetting mogul that he is today, he got his start as a producer most notably working with Jay-Z. Back in 2000, Ye was signed to Roc Nation’s team of in-house producers and from there the rest is history. With over 20 years of experience in the music business, Ye has continued to raise the industry standard.

Take a look at 15 songs you might not have known he produced for other artists:

Ye produced Foxy Brown's "My Life" which was released in 1999. The song was featured as part of the soundtrack in the 2003 hit film "Cradle 2 The Grave" starring the late DMX, Jet Li, Gabrielle Union, Anthony Anderson, and Paige Hurd.

Lil' Kim's "Don't Mess with Me" was released in 2000 from the rapper's second studio album The Notorious K.I.M. Ye is also credited as a co-writer along with Kimberly Denise Jones (Lil' Kim), Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie, Geoff Gill and Cliff Wade.

"Brown Sugar (Fine)" is from the soundtrack of the film Brown Sugar. Mos Def plays Chris “Cavi” Vichon, a cab driver and underground rapper, and he performs the song in the film and tags Faith Evans' angelic vocals later on the soundtrack. The song contains a sample of Norman Connor’s “Invitation” (1979).

Monica released "Knock Knock" in 2003 on her fourth studio album 'Before The Storm.' The record peaked at No.75 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 24 on Billboard’s R&B chart."Knock Knock" samples The Masqueraders' 1976 song “It’s a Terrible Thing to Waste Your Love.”

"Go!" is the third single from Common's 2005 album Be. Ye provides background vocals alongside John Mayer. Be was nominated for "Best Rap Album" at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards.

“You Don’t Know My Name” is the lead single of Alicia’s second studio album The Diary Of Alicia Keys , which was released in 2003. The song won a Grammy for "Best R&B Song" at the 47th Annual Grammys where the singer also picked up "Best R&B Album," for The Diary Of Alicia Keys , "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" for "If Ain't Got You," and "Best R&B Performance By A Duo or Group With Vocals" for "My Boo" featuring Usher.

"Overnight Celebrity" is the second single from Twista's 2004 album Kamikaze. The song has uncredited vocals by West and violin by Miri Ben-Ari. The track samples Lenny Williams' 1978 song "Cause I Love You." The song received a nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards.

"Stay The Night" is from Mariah Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi, the singer's 10th studio album, which was released in 2005.

Alicia Keys and Ye teamed up again on the singer's "Unbreakable" which was released in 2005. The track was originally supposed to be a part of the R&B icon's second studio album The Diary Of Alicia Keys but it ultimately did not make the cut.
"The song was always one of my favorites, but I did not think it would fit well into my second album," the singer said per Genius. The record draws from Eddie Kendrick's 1977 "Intimate Friends." "Unbreakable" was nominated for "Best R&B Song" and "Best Female Vocal R&B Vocal Performance" at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards.

"Did It Before" is from Lil Wayne's The Drought Is Over 2: The Carter 3 Sessions. The Drought Is Over 2: The Carter 3 Sessions is an unofficial compilation of Lil Wayne songs that was released in 2007.

"Show Me A Good Time" is from Drake's 2010 album Thank Me Later. Not only did Ye produce this song but he also has a co-writing credit along with Drake, No I.D., and Jeff Bhasker. Ye also produced Drizzy's "Find Your Love" which is also on the album. Thank Me Later was nominated for "Best Rap Album" at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.

The original "Runaway Love" is found on Justin Bieber's 2010 album My World 2.0. Bieber and Ye's collab came after Kanye tweeted his admiration of the song. He then added Wu-Tang's Raekwon onto the project for the remix. The remix samples the beat from Wu-Tang Clan's 1993 hit "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing ta F--- Wit."

"Party" is from Beyoncé's fourth studio album 4 and includes a guest appearance from André 3000. Ye also contributes background vocals to the track along with Consequence.

"Let's Get Lifted" is from John Legend's debut studio album Get Lifted. Ye who was Legend's manager at the time, executive produced this album including "Let's Get Lifted." Get Lifted won "Best R&B Album", and earned Legend another two awards, for "Best New Artist" and "Best Male R&B Vocal Performance" for his single "Ordinary People" at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards.

"Industry Baby" appears on Lil Nas X's debut album Montero which was released in 2021. The song features a guest appearance from rapper Jack Harlow. The song debuted at No. 2 in August of 2021 then went to No.1 on the chart on the week of October 23, 2021. The track became Lil Nas X's third No. 1 song and Harlow's first. The song received a nomination for Best Melodic Rap Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.