Kanye West forbid students at secretive Donda Academy from wearing Adidas or Nike, former staff allege in a lawsuit

• Nike and Adidas clothing wasn't allowed to be worn at Donda Academy, a new lawsuit alleges.
• The suit alleges teachers and students had to wear all black, head-to-toe when they went to school.

No one at Donda Academy was allowed to wear Adidas or Nike, two former staff members of the school alleged in a new lawsuit filed Thursday.

Teachers and students were "required to wear all black from head to toe," the former staffers allege, adding that the black clothing must have been issued or designed by Ye, the founder of the school.

"Nike and Adidas brands were forbidden," former staffers Cecilia Hailey and Chekarey Byers alleged in the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Lawyers for Ye — formerly known as Kanye West — and a representative for Donda Academy did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

When approached by an Insider reporter at Donda's Chatsworth campus on Thursday, a staff member declined to comment. A security guard said the school was out early for spring break. But at least two adults soon stepped out of the building with children dressed in all black. Two students wore t-shirts with the wings of a white dove emblazoned on their backs.

Adidas cut ties with Ye after his antisemitic comments

Adidas, which famously collaborated with Ye's clothing brand, Yeezy, cut ties with the rapper after his racist and antisemitic comments last fall.

Adidas said at the time that Ye's remarks and actions had "been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company's values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness," Insider previously reported.

Pitchfork reported in 2013 that Ye had stopped working with Nike earlier that year because Nike could not give Ye the royalties on his sneakers that he wanted, whereas Adidas could.

Donda Academy was under the public spotlight last fall after Ye made a series of racist and antisemitic comments.

The artist was heavily criticized for wearing a "White Lives Matter" T-shirt, incorrectly insisting George Floyd died of a drug overdose, and making repeated antisemitic comments.

On October 27, Donda officials announced the school would be closing, but days later an Insider reporter found students and parents coming and going from its Chatsworth location. Ye himself was spotted at the school, which was discreetly located in a building marked "Jouer."

The new lawsuit against Ye and Donda Academy

Hailey was hired in November and her daughter, Byers, was hired in January.

They say they were the only Black women working at the school and that they were fired in March after complaining about unsafe conditions.

They alleged a slew of other bizarre rules, saying students weren't allowed outside for recess and also couldn't go to the school's second floor because of Ye's alleged fear of stairs.

They say there was a "lack of safety" at Donda Academy, including when it came to students' medical needs.

Ye, Donda Academy, and three school directors are named as defendants in the suit, which includes complaints of seven labor code and discrimination violations.

One of the plaintiffs' lawyers, Ronald L. Zambrano, told Insider on Thursday that his clients believe Ye has good intentions but that they are speaking up for the good of the students at Donda Academy. However, he said his clients believe people working at the school are not standing up to Ye to enforce proper education standards.

"In their heart of hearts, they think that Kanye is trying to do the right thing," Zambrano said. "No one says, 'Hey, that may not be the best for the kids.' No one is pushing back. Some people have a tough time and are just 'Yes' people.