aaron donald and Jaylen Brown are the latest people to break ties with Ye, the controversial rapper formerly known as Kanye West.
The Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle announced Tuesday the Twitter that he is parting ways with Ye’s marketing agency, Donda Sports, following the rapper’s “irresponsible” anti-Semitic comments.
“Our family has made the decision to part ways with Donda Sports,” read a statement from Donald and his wife, Erica Donald. “The recent comments and displays of hate and anti-Semitism are the exact opposite of how we choose to live our lives and raise our children. We find them irresponsible and they go against everything we believe in as a family.”
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After initially saying he would stay with Donda Sports on Monday, Brown, the Boston Celtics star, backed down and announced Tuesday the Twitter that he is also “ending (his) association with Donda Sports”.
“Over the past 24 hours, I have been able to reflect and better understand how my previous statements lack clarity in expressing my stance against recent insensitive public comments and actions,” Brown wrote in a statement. “For that, I apologize. And in this, I seek to be as clear as possible. I will always, and always, continue to firmly oppose any anti-Semitism, hate speech, misrepresentation, and oppressive rhetoric of any kind.”
Donald and Brown signed with Donda Sports, which focuses on marketing and business outside the field, In May. Wide Receiver Antonio Brown Announced in February he had been named president of Donda Sports.
“Donda is about ownership, empowerment and discovery of the next superheroes,” Antonio Brown wrote in February before attending Super Bowl 56 with Ye. “This is for the people who shut us out, for everyone who said we can’t, we say WE WILL.”
On Tuesday, Antonio Brown stood by Ye amid the backlash, saying he is still affiliated with Donda Sports.
“As President of Donda Sports, I remain,” Antonio Brown wrote in a statement shared on Twitter. “I remain dedicated to helping clarify statements taken disproportionately by the media. I remain committed to bringing new ideas, experiences, and designs to our world. I continue to support the humanity that is Ye.”
Ye has faced heavy consequences after sharing anti-Semitic sentiments on social media and in various interviews. The rapper was suspended from Twitter and Instagram earlier this month for violating their policies. Adidas ended their partnership and lucrative sneaker deal with Ye on Tuesday, removing Ye from the Forbes list of billionaires.
Ye’s talent agency CAA dropped him on Monday. The Balenciaga fashion house cut ties with him last week and JP Morgan Chase also ended its business relationship with the rapper.
“The Shop,” starring LeBron James and Maverick Carter, also deleted a recently taped interview with Ye because the rapper engaged in “more extremely dangerous hate speech and stereotyping,” Carter said. Andscape.
Donald previously said that he signed with Donda Sports because of its “family environment.”
“It made sense to hear the full spectrum of everything that was going on, what they were going to bring, the family atmosphere that they had at Donda Sports,” Donald said after his signing in May. “For me, it was a no-brainer, so I think it’s a great opportunity to open a lot of different doors and a lot of different things outside of football that I want to be involved in.”
On Tuesday, however, the Donalds credited family as the main reason for leaving Donda Sports.
“As parents and members of society, we feel a responsibility to send a clear message that hateful words and actions have consequences and that we must do better as human beings,” Donald and his wife wrote in their statement. “We do not feel that our beliefs, voices and actions belong to a space that misrepresents and oppresses people of any origin, ethnicity or race.”
Contributors: Victoria Hernandez, Hannah Yasharoff
