Teacher says she was fired when her rap career was discovered. ‘You’re a bad influence’

A high school teacher who said she was fired over her rap career is fighting back — with a little help from her former students.

Domonique Brown, who goes by the rap name Drippin Honey, was recently fired from Taylor Preparatory High School following a complaint by a parent, according to WXYZ and WJBK. She had taught for seven years but was in her first year teaching at the Detroit-area school.

She said in a social media post she was dealing with the anonymous parent’s complaint for five months until she was eventually dismissed from her position.

“The first meeting was with my dean and my principal and they were just telling me, ‘Hey, a parent said that they’ve seen your social media, and that you’re a bad influence because you’re a rapper,’” Brown told WJBK.

Brown said she was asked to erase her content from her social media pages to continue with her job, but the rapper refused.

So when the U.S. history teacher was fired in February, she made a lasting impression with her students.

“After I was removed, I walked out and had my camera girl outside waiting,” Brown told XXL. “As a Black history teacher, I provided something powerful and meaningful to those kids.”

Alongside her former students, Brown recorded the music video for her latest single, “Drippin 101.”

A TikTok snippet of the music video, which was shared in its entirety on YouTube on March 13, has more than 440,000 likes and 2.4 million views as of Thursday, March 21.

She said in a caption on the music video she is troubled by the school’s “lack of consideration for the impact and influence” she had on her students’ lives.

“My outside life should not be grounds for termination when it does not interfere with my ability to fulfill my responsibilities as a teacher,” she said. “My dedication, professionalism, and passion for education have always been unwavering, regardless of any personal pursuits I may have.”

Now, the former teacher is reportedly planning on taking legal action against the school. She told WJBK she believes she was discriminated against.

Taylor Preparatory High School is a part of National Heritage Academies. In a statement to WXYZ, the organization said it was “aware of the alleged claims by a former teacher.”

“Student well-being remains at the forefront of everything we do, and we will continue fostering a distraction-free teaching and learning environment focused on student success,” a spokesperson for the organization said in a statement.

This story was originally published March 21, 2024 at 6:48 AM with the headline "Teacher says she was fired when her rap career was discovered. ‘You’re a bad influence’."