Jewish educator cuts ties with Kanye West’s Los Angeles school
Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, during an Oct. 16 interview on “Drink Champs.” Photo by YouTube screenshot
By Louis Keene October 25, 2022
A well-regarded Jewish educator who consulted on Kanye West’s unaccredited private Christian school resigned from her post, saying she could no longer support the organization.
Tamar Andrews, longtime director of early childhood education at Temple Isaiah in Los Angeles, had worked with West’s Donda Academy since July, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which broke the news Tuesday.
Though not reported at the time, Andrews was among the first to cut ties with West, a rapper and clothing designer who legally changed his name to Ye earlier this year, after he tweeted he planned to “go death con 3 on Jewish people” on Oct. 9.
“Dr. Andrews immediately resigned from Donda Academy following Ye West’s tweet,” Temple Isaiah president Allison Samek said in a statement to THR. “Her last day was October 11, 2022 as she felt she could no longer support the organization.”
Since the tweet incited a firestorm of blowback in media and pop culture, West has doubled down. In an interview on the podcast “Drink Champs” a few days after the tweet, West said he could say things that were antisemitic and Adidas wouldn’t drop him. (Adidas dropped him Oct. 24, following a prolonged and growing outcry about the company’s inaction.)
West has refused to apologize in several public interviews.
West opened the Donda Academy as a K-12 school in 2021, and according to Andrews, had about 100 students and 16 full-time teachers. It has been shrouded in secrecy since its opening, with parents required to sign a nondisclosure agreement.
Andrews, who is also director of the early childhood education program at American Jewish University, defended the NDA requirement in an interview with Rolling Stone published in September, calling it an “informal agreement.”
“Honestly, we don’t care if people know about the school,” she said then. “The people that want to come to the school are looking for a good Christian school in that area and they know that we’re there … there is also a certain notoriety that comes with being affiliated with Donda. So, I don’t know that we have to advertise, which is a blessing and a curse.”
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