Kanye West Settles Donda Academy Teachers’ Lawsuits Ahead of Trial

A month before Kanye West was set to head to trial to face teachers from his failed Donda Academy, the controversial rapper settled some of the lawsuits he was facing, according to court documents obtained by Rolling Stone.

The 47-year-old, who changed his name to Ye, has agreed to conditional settlements this week with former assistant principal Isaiah Meadows and teachers Cecilia Hailey, Chekarey Byers, and Timanii Meeks, who all sued West in 2023. West has 45 days to fulfill his end of the agreement, and the teachers will submit a request for dismissal to the Los Angeles Superior Court. 

Their cases were scheduled to go to trial in April, but West had largely been a no-show in the proceedings after his attorney asked to withdraw from the cases last August, claiming West had fired him and refused to pay his invoices. In the months since, West has purportedly struggled to find new legal representation amid his ongoing antisemitic rants. 

Rolling Stone has contacted a representative for West for comment. 

The settlements will bring an end to the disastrous saga that was West’s vision for a private Christian school, which he hoped his four children with Kim Kardashian could attend. Named after his late mother, Donda Academy opened to a promising start in 2022. The school recruited an all-star high school basketball team, founded a children’s choir program that funneled into West’s popular Sunday Services, and developed a forward-thinking curriculum that included parkour classes. 

But the school was secretive. A Rolling Stone investigation learned that Donda had no accreditation, its then-28-year-old principal had no formal background in education, and families had been asked to sign nondisclosure agreements. After West went on a series of vile antisemitic rants in the fall of 2022, Donda became collateral damage, with families pulling their children out and several teachers leaving. 

The school left in shambles, teachers began suing West over wrongful termination and unpaid wages. Mother-daughter duo Hailey and Byers were the first to sue in Spring 2023, claiming students were “at least two years behind” in their studies. Meeks accused West of banning crossword puzzles and coloring sheets, forbidding the use of hard chairs, and insisting on all classes be held on the first floor because he was “reportedly afraid of stairs.” 

Meadows claimed West’s aesthetic choices resulted in health and safety violations, including his distaste for glass made for a skylight in a classroom to be left completely open, leading to moldy smells days after it would rain.  All the teachers claimed they were unfairly fired when they brought their range of concerns to the school’s leadership. 

West is still facing some lawsuits stemming from some staffers who worked at Donda Academy. The artist was most recently hit with sanctions totaling $2,560 in late February. He was ordered to sit for a deposition in the discrimination and retaliation case brought against him by ex-employee Trevor Phillips.