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Controversial rapper Kanye West's Donda Academy to stay in City of Palms Classic field

dan deluca, fort myers news-press
·3 min read
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The Culligan City of Palms Classic still plans on hosting Kanye West's Donda Academy as part of its 49th annual tournament in December at Suncoast Union Arena.

The rapper, now known as Ye, has endured a firestorm of criticism following a series of antisemitic comments he's made in recent weeks.

On Tuesday, Kentucky's Play-By-Play Classic announced it was rescinding Donda Academy's invitation to play in its basketball tournament, scheduled for Dec. 11, five days before the City of Palms begins.

From August: Kanye West's Donda Academy headlines 2022 City of Palms Classic; Gateway, Canterbury invited

A statement on its Twitter account explaining its decision said in part "Kanye's words and actions violate our values as a company and a country, and what we seek to ensure at all of our events – a spirit of diversity, sportsmanship, inclusion, equity, and mutual respect."

Donnie Wilkie, vice president of the City of Palms, said Wednesday that as of now, there are no plans to remove Donda Academy from the tournament.

"I'm not aware of any issue with that right now," Wilkie said.

John Naylor, the executive director for the City of Palms, said the contract the tournament has is with the Donda Academy basketball team, not West,

"We're a basketball organization, not a political organization," Naylor said. "Do I like what he says? No."

Naylor added that his father served in the Pacific during World War II in order to help preserve America's freedoms, one of which is freedom of speech.

"I may not like what you say, but it's your right to do so," he said.

Naylor said that as long as the Donda team shows up, they'll play in the City of Palms as scheduled.

"That's our expectation," he said.

The Doves feature a pair of nationally ranked seniors in 6-foot-2 point guard Robert Dillingham (No. 5 ESPN), a Kentucky commit, and 6-foot-8 forward JJ Taylor (No. 12 ESPN). They are scheduled to play in the City of Palms' Signature Series bracket and will face The Rock School of Gainesville at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 18. Donda would then play in either the third-place game or the Signature Series championship on Tuesday, Dec. 20.

Donda's basketball team, which played a national schedule in its debut season last fall, predates the Simi Valley, Calif. private school itself, which just opened in September. According to its website, the school's mission is "to be a reflection of God's glory in the world."

This week, both the Gap and Adidas announced they were cutting ties with Ye because of his antisemitic comments. Two pro athletes, Los Angeles Rams defensive end Aaron Donald and Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown, also said they were parting ways with Donda Sports, Ye's marketing agency.

More Ye fallout:

A separate challenge the City of Palms Classic has dealt with this year is the impact of Hurricane Ian on Southwest Florida. Wilkie said hotel accommodations had to be changed for some visiting teams because of either facility damage or hotels are now sheltering people displaced by the storm and no longer had room.

"As of this point we have a hotel for everyone coming from out of town," Wilkie said. "We're hoping it stays that way."

Wilkie said teams started calling shortly after Hurricane Ian to check on the status of the tournament.

"Our challenge has been to reassure a lot of people that are coming into town while at the same time being sensitive I think to what is going on in town," he said. "That’s a difficult balance."

Connect with Dan DeLuca: @News-PressDan (Twitter), ddeluca@gannett.com.

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This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Kanye West's Donda Academy still set for City of Palms Classic