Kanye West is facing a discrimination lawsuit from a former Donda Academy security guard who claims he was dismissed after refusing to cut off his dreadlocks. Benjamin Provo is seeking 23 million dollars in damages from West, Yeezy LLC and Donda Academy Incorporated.
Provo, who is Black and Muslim, said he had grown his dreadlocks for more than a decade and regarded them as a symbol of his Black culture and Muslim faith. He claims West and members of his team objected to his hair and demanded that he shave his head.
The lawsuit, first filed in April 2024, is due to go to trial on October 12. West has denied all the allegations through his legal team.
Provo said he worked as a security guard for Donda Academy for three years and was employed by the school, Yeezy LLC and West from April 2022. He also provided security for West, his business and Sunday Service events, according to his court filing.
Claims about working conditions at Donda Academy
In documents filed with the court, Provo alleged that the organisation had no human resources department or policies designed to protect employees.
He claimed there were no rules covering discrimination, harassment or retaliation, and that staff received no training on those issues.
Provo also referred to testimony from Milo Yiannopoulos, who he said was second only to West within the organisation. According to Provo’s filing, Yiannopoulos said: “If you have really thin skin about racially charged remarks… this really is not the company for you.”
The filing also quotes Yiannopoulos as saying employees working at Yeezy between 2023 and 2024 had to accept “the provocative way Ye talked about religion”. It alleges he described the company’s approach by saying: “Yeezy doesn’t support any type of ‘woke’ code of conduct for employees mandating acceptable speech.”
Provo further alleged that, around the middle of 2023, West instructed people associated with Donda to dispose of books about Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X and other prominent Black figures.
According to the filing, West said the purpose was to end “the indoctrination that creates the group think mindset”. Provo also alleged that West said he was “very heavy into pushing that agenda” as a Christian.
Provo rejected claims from West and his team that he was not directly employed by them, describing those denials as “demonstrably false”. The case is scheduled to begin next month.
