Jaylen Brown and Aaron Donald leave Kanye West's sports agency
One day after Jaylen Brown told the Boston Globe he was sticking with Kanye West's agency, he reversed course and left Donda Sports Tuesday, as did Aaron Donald of the Los Angeles Rams.
Brown said he'd reflected in the last 24 hours, and concluded that "I now recognize that there are times when my voice and position can't coexist in spaces that don't correspond with my space or my values. And for that reason, I am terminating my association with Donda Sports."
Brown added that he valued his association with Donda Academy, a private Christian school in Simi Valley, California, that like Donda Sports is named after Kanye's late mother.
West has been losing sponsors and corporate relationships since a series of anti-Semitic comments and social media posts, including a confusing tweet threatening to "go death con 3 on Jewish people" that got his account suspended. Balenciaga, Adidas, and agency CAA recently cut ties with West, and now Donda Sports athletes have followed suit.
Yesterday, Brown expressed support for the goals and aims of Donda, despite the hateful comments of West. He told the Globe:
"The reason why I signed with Donda Sports, it represented education, it represented activism, disruption. 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."
Brown's comments led to a flood of criticism from NBA writers and fans, who found his condemnation of West's remarks while sticking with his agency to be ineffectual.
Donald's statement Tuesday said he and his family decided to leave Donda because "the recent comments and displays of hate and antisemitism are the opposite of the way we choose to live our lives and raise our children."
Both Donald and Brown had signed with Donda Sports to represent their marketing and business interests, but not contract negotiations - Donald has Todd France of Athlete's First to handle his player contracts, and Brown's agent is Jason Glushon.
In other Donda Sports news, Antonio Brown, named President of Donda Sports in February, was ordered to pay $1.2M for assaulting a truck driver.
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