Los Angeles Rams star Aaron Donald and Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown have both announced their decisions to part ways with Donda Sports, a sports marketing agency owned by rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, in light of his recent antisemitic remarks.
For weeks, Ye has made antisemitic comments in interviews and social media, including a Twitter post earlier this month in which he said that he would soon go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” an apparent reference to the U.S. defence readiness condition scale known as DEFCON. He was suspended from both Twitter and Instagram.
"The recent comments and displays of hate and antisemitism are the exact opposite of how we choose to live our lives and raise our children. We find them to be irresponsible and go against everything we believe in as a family," Donald wrote in a statement.
Brown initially said in an interview with the Boston Globe's Gary Washburn released Monday that he was not parting ways with Donda Sports despite Ye's comments, which have caused several companies to cut ties with the artist, including Adidas.
"The reason why I signed with Donda Sports, it represented education, it represented activism, disruption," he said in the Globe's article. "It represented single-parent households, and a lot more people are involved in something like that."
But Brown walked that back on Tuesday, just moments after Donald released his statement, writing he'd "been able to reflect" over the last 24 hours on how his previous comments lacked clarity, before stating he stands "strongly against any antisemitism, hate speech, misrepresentation, and oppressive rhetoric of any kind."
"In light of that, after sharing in conversations, I now recognize that there are times when my voice and my position can't coexist in spaces that don't correspond with my stance or my values. And, for that reason, I am terminating my association with Donda Sports," Brown added in his statement.
With files from The Associated Press
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