8:10 p.m. ET
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Tim BontempsESPN
Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown and Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald announced Tuesday night that they are leaving Donda Sports, the agency founded by the artist formerly known as Kanye West, due to anti-Semitic comments he made recently.
The announcements came hours after Adidas ended its relationship with the rapper, now known as Ye.
Brown’s decision came a day after he told The Boston Globe he would remain with Donda Sports despite not agreeing with Ye’s statements.
“Over the past 24 hours, I have been able to reflect and better understand how my previous statements lacked clarity in expressing my position in the face of recent insensitive public remarks and actions,” Brown said Tuesday in a statement that post on Twitter. “For that, I apologize. And in that, I seek to be as clear as possible. I have always continued, and always will, stand firmly against any anti-Semitism, hate speech, misrepresentation, and oppressive rhetoric of any kind.
“Thus, after sharing conversations, I recognize that there are times when my voice and my position cannot coexist in spaces that do not correspond with my position or my values. And for this reason, I am ending my partnership with Donda Sports”.
Donald announced at the same time that his family would be leaving Donda Sports, saying Ye’s comments “are the exact opposite of how we choose to live our lives and raise our children.”
“As parents and members of society, we felt a responsibility to send a clear message that hateful words and actions have consequences and that we must do better as human beings,” Donald wrote in the his statement via Twitter. “We do not feel that our beliefs, voices and actions belong in a space that misrepresents and oppresses people of any background, ethnicity or race. We have had the pleasure of working with many amazing people along the way and look forward to continuing to use them. la our platform to uplift and support other families, children and communities through positive outreach.”
Brown and Donald signed with Donda Sports in May.
Earlier Tuesday, Adidas announced it would formally cut ties with Ye, who had developed a very lucrative apparel and apparel partnership with the company.
“Adidas does not tolerate anti-Semitism or any other form of hate speech,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday. “Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.”
As part of its statement, Adidas said it would lose approximately $250 million this year in net revenue as a result of severing its partnership with Ye, but that doing so was necessary in the wake of anti-Semitic comments he has made during the last weeks
Ye has made controversial comments in the past on various topics, including slavery and COVID-19 vaccines. Earlier this month, Ye tweeted that he would soon be going to “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” an apparent reference to the US defense readiness scale known as DEFCON. He was suspended from both Twitter and Instagram.
His recent string of anti-Semitic comments has led to several companies cutting ties with the rapper or his various lines of business. Creative Artists Agency, Balenciaga, Gap and Foot Locker are among others that have ended their collaborations with him.
This report used information from The Associated Press.