You know you’ve f*cked up when the head of your former agency is run by a clown like Antonio Brown.
After literally standing by him in photos, and business deals, Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown, and Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald have finally decided to part ways with Kanye West’s Donda Sports — largely because of the backlash the rapper received as companies are dropping him due to his antisemitic comments, and continued erratic and dangerous behavior.
Brown and Donald do not deserve your praise. Nor should they be remembered as being on the right side of history, given their past words and all the things they overlooked and tolerated from West before conveniently arriving at this moment of “clarity and enlightenment.”
“In the past 24 hours, I’ve been able to reflect and better understand how my previous statements lack clarity in expressing my stance against recent insensitive public remarks and actions,” said Brown, who days before said he “condemned” West’s statements but was sticking with the agency that isn’t known for actually doing anything.
This is why Brown was never qualified to be the person who was selected to speak about Bill Russell and his legacy before the Celtics’ home opener earlier this month, as his tolerance of West was something Russell would have never stood for.
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“We do not feel our beliefs, voices, and actions belong anywhere near a space that misrepresents and oppresses people of any background, ethnicity, or race,” wrote Donald in his worthless statement that ignored how he was still a wilful client of West’s company even after the musician wore a “White Lives Matter” t-shirt.
Brown and Donald don’t get to look like the good guys for showing up to a party at the 11th hour when they should have declined the invitation from the jump.
There is no place for antisemitism. But, there should never be a place where two Black men ignore anti-Blackness all because they like the clothes West makes or listen to his music before games.
Where was this outrage from them — along with the public and all of these other companies — when West said “slavery was a choice,” or when he claimed George Floyd died from fentanyl? This crowd was silent when West was walking around in Confederate Flag gear or letting the GOP use him like a puppet on television.
But all of a sudden, West has “gone too far” and Brown and Donald have had enough?
This is what it looks like to be anti-Black while being Black.
“So to be a part of that, and be one of the best first athletes to be a part of that, it’s pretty dope. We’re excited about it, and we’re gonna see where this thing goes,” Donald said when he first signed with West.
Welp. Donald f*cked around and found out.
And according to a TMZ report, Brown fell for the fairytale that West sold him as it read, “We’re told Ye thinks Brown is underappreciated … and wants to bring him to ‘superhero’ status during his career and long after his playing days.”
(Insert that classic Harvey Dent line from The Dark Knight)
Far too often, Black people — and Black athletes — get caught up in the emotion and guise of things believed to be Black empowerment. And while this was an agency created by a Black man for Black athletes, at its core it was led by someone who had proven in their words and actions that their goal was to annihilate Blackness, not uplift it. And with that, it means that his followers, fans, and clients either played a part in that or had no issues remaining silent as it occurred.
It’s impossible to think that Jaylen Brown and Aaron Donald did the right thing by walking away from Kanye West and Donda Sports when you’ve already realized that they made an inconceivable error by signing with him in the first place.
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