Donda’s House—the nonprofit founded by Kanye West, Rhymefest, and Donnie Smith dedicated to providing “unprecedented access and education from leading experts in the music, fashion, and entertainment industry to Chicago’s creative youth and young adults”—has announced that it will no longer operate under the name “Donda’s House Inc.” The move follows recent tension between Rhymefest, the organization’s current creative director, and Kim Kardashian West.
In a closing statement posted on Instagram, the company says the “social media quotes from Kim Kardashian West, as well as the expressed interest of her family running the organization, has brought us to this decision.” The nonprofit says it hopes to continue to support Chicago’s youth in its future endeavors.
The announcement follows a statement published by the organization of Friday in response to Kanye’s recent political comments. In the post, Donda’s House writes that while they’ve been repeatedly asked to remark on Kanye’s recent political behavior, “we cannot and do not speak for Kanye West and his views.” “We ask that those who feel hurt, angered by or frustrated with Kanye West not penalize or throw away their support, respect, and advocacy for us,” the statement continues.
The dispute reignited earlier this week when Drake posted a $100,000 invoice to Pusha T and Kanye in connection with his diss track “Duppy Freestyle.” After Drake posted the invoice on Instagram, Rhymefest responded on Twitter with some remarks about his own relationship with Kanye and Donda’s House.
@Drake when G.O.O.D. Music sends the money they owe you, will you please help us rebuild Kanye’s mothers house for the youth of Chicago. I spoke to Kanye about it. His response was “fuck the youth of Chicago”
— Rhymefest (@RHYMEFEST) May 26, 2018
Kim Kardashian West then fired off a number of tweets directed at Rhymefest, criticizing the organizer for “over leveraging Kanye’s name” in connection with Donda’s House. “Truth is you haven’t been able to sustain the foundation,” she tweeted. “You better believe I will make it my mission to take Donda’s House from you and let my children run it the way it should be run!”
U haven’t been right since u got kicked out of the studio in Hawaii wearing fake Yeezy’s @RHYMEFEST 😂 You’re over levergenging Kanye’s name & asked Kanye to donate money to u so stop w your fake community politics & lies. Truth is you haven’t been able to sustain the foundation
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) May 26, 2018
I saw you at our studio a few weeks ago so why didn’t you bring this up then @RHYMEFEST ? You were trying to get Kanye to listen to your sub par beats. You have the audacity to use Kanye’s mom name to try to shead a negative light on Kanye.
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) May 26, 2018
You better believe I will make it my mission to take Donda’s House from you and let my children run it the way it should be run! @RHYMEFEST
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) May 26, 2018
Oh and lastly your flight cancelled to Wyoming. You thought you were really worthy to be on this album 😂😂😂
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) May 26, 2018
Sorry to all of my followers for flooding my timeline I know you have no idea who Rhymefest is.
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) May 26, 2018
Later that night, Rhymefest responded with a statement directly addressing the criticism. “At this point, if you and Kanye want us to dissolve the organization so that you can do the work, we welcome that,” he writes in the statement. “We will continue from our home on the South Side of Chicago to do what we can to support the community we’ve worked five years to build in spite of you & Kanye’s lack of interest or support. You have been not privy to the conversations that we’ve had, the emails that have been sent, and frankly the positive press that Kanye has received as a result of our work.” Read the full statement below.
Hey @KimKardashian good to hear from you. Here’s my response pic.twitter.com/dWvwZfr1b5
— Rhymefest (@RHYMEFEST) May 27, 2018
