Kanye West’s Businesses Placed in Default After He Misses Los Angeles Hearing in Donda Academy Lawsuit

A Los Angeles court entered default judgments against three companies connected to Kanye West after he did not appear at a hearing on Wednesday, December 11, in one of the lawsuits involving his closed private Christian school, Donda Academy. According to Rolling Stone, Superior Court Judge Christopher K. Lui issued defaults against Yeezy Christian Academy, Donda Services LLC, and Stokes Canyon LLC at a hearing in Downtown Los Angeles. West, who is a defendant in the case, was not personally present, and the source reports that the default is his first for his businesses.

The hearing concerned a breach of contract lawsuit filed in 2023 by Isaiah Meadows, a former Donda Academy employee. Meadows claims he was hired in 2020 to help manage Yeezy Christian Academy and worked with the school when it changed its name to Donda Academy in August 2021. He alleges that his pay was cut, that a promised rent stipend was taken back, and that he was fired in August 2022 after complaining about conditions at the school. Those conditions, as described in his claims, included an overflowing septic tank, exposed electrical wiring, and a lack of glass skylights and windows, which the lawsuit says West “did not like.” These are allegations in a pending case and have not been decided by the court.

Judge Lui said the case needed to move forward. The companies had also failed to attend a previous hearing the month before through a retained lawyer, and the judge said there was “basically no representation for these three entities.” He ordered that answers filed on behalf of the three companies by West’s former attorney, Brian Brumfield, be removed. The source notes that West terminated Brumfield in June 2024. The judge did not say whether the trial scheduled for April would be postponed. Because West is an individual defendant rather than a corporation, the source reports that he may represent himself at trial.

Meadows’s lawyer, Ron Zambrano, told Rolling Stone that his client was satisfied with the decision and was looking forward to collecting a judgment. Zambrano said he would soon submit a proposed judgment to the court for consideration.

The Meadows lawsuit is one of several. The source reports that it followed a suit by two teachers who alleged poor security and “non-existent educational standards” at the school, and that a third teacher later joined that action. The teachers also alleged that sushi was the only lunch available and that West “did not allow chairs,” providing stools and foam cushions instead. Other staff members later filed additional suits.

The most recent case the source describes was filed last month by Murphy Aficionado, a former Yeezy employee, who is suing West for “unlawful termination.” Aficionado says he was fired after asking about West’s plans to move the school to a “decrepit property” without the proper permits. The lawsuit also makes accusations of “antisemitic tirades” against West, which the source presents as claims in the filing. West is also facing lawsuits from earlier Yeezy employees.

Source: Read the original report