List of Azealia Banks' controversies

American rapper Azealia Banks has developed a reputation for disputes with several public figures on social media, particularly Twitter, with Complex noting that "she gets more attention for her public feuds than she does for her music".

Azealia Banks has feuds with many people and organizations.

Feuds between celebrities

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Beyoncé

Following the release of Beyoncé's visual album Lemonade in April 2016, Banks tweeted that she did not enjoy the album, and criticized Beyoncé, saying "She's purposefully strayed away from political discourse her entire career to make sure she didn't alienate white ppl. And now that black women's suffering is a national conversation, she wants to hop on it and make our suffering 'trendy'...she needs to stay under Jay-Z's foot where she belongs, and stay out of the creative woman's way."

In 2024, Banks criticized the cover and title of Beyoncé's then-upcoming album, Cowboy Carter. "Wow we didn't even try to put even a little effort into a more artistic title?" she wrote on Instagram. "How u switch from baobab trees and black parade to this literal pick me stuff." She went on to accuse her of being in "white woman cosplay" and "reinforcing the false rhetoric that country music is a post civil war white art form. And subsequently reinforcing the idea that there is no racism, segregation, slavery, violence, theft, massacres, plagues, manifest destiny craziness that form the bedrock of epithets like 'proud to be an American,' or 'god bless the usa.'".

Iggy Azalea

In 2013, Banks wrote on Twitter, "Iggy Azalea on the XXL freshman list is all wrong. How can you endorse a white woman who calls herself a runaway slave master?! In any capacity *kanye shrug*." Iggy Azalea said, in response to Banks' statement, "This is the thing. But this my day and it's my achievement. You have to work to have your own achievements, with all due respect. So, instead of worrying about who else is on there. You should just be happy I'm on there as a women, for women. And if you want to have an achievement, work, and earn your own achievements. I can't take what's meant for you and you can't take what's meant for me."

Kreayshawn

In 2012, Banks lashed out on Kreayshawn for retweeting "212" from a pornographic website. Tweeting, "You think you're funny? You're a dumb bitch. And you can't rap. I'll sit on your face... fall back slut." Kreayshawn replied "Huh? What did I do to you? I've been listening to your music all month. Strange. Stranger!" before deleting the tweet and tweeting "Did I just get smashed on twitter because I was supporting a fellow female? I sure did... *confused*"

Lana Del Rey

In 2018, Banks criticized Lana Del Rey for her comments regarding Kanye West's 13th Amendment controversy. West had posted a tweet that showed him appearing to be on a private plane while wearing a "Make America Great Again" cap and wrote, "This represents good and America becoming whole again" before launching into his thoughts about the amendment and slavery. Del Rey responded in the comments on West's official Instagram account. "Trump becoming our president was a loss for the country but your support of him is a loss for the culture," she wrote. "I can only assume you relate to his personality on some level. Delusions of Grandeur, extreme issues of narcissism – none of which would be a talking point if we weren't speaking about the man leading our country." Banks did not appreciate Del Rey's comments and tweeted when asked about them. "Wow okay Lana, this would be cute if you were consistent with your outrage and refused to collab with ASAP rocky who has physically assaulted women too," Banks tweeted. "To me this just looks like the typical White woman taking using a weakened target to 'pretend' to be an ally."

Marina Diamandis

In 2013, Banks got into a Twitter feud with Welsh singer Marina Diamandis (known by her stage name at the time as Marina & the Diamonds, now known by the mononym Marina). Diamandis tweeted "All your personality goes on Twitter. IRL you have nothing left to give." Though no names were mentioned, Banks quickly came onto Twitter to address the tweet. She posted "Lol I see this one thirsty singer from the UK sub-tweet about me all the time. She better shut up before I steal her look & sound", followed by "Bitches think they're clever and rude, but trust me, I'm ruder. I can't stand a scared bitch."

Rihanna

In 2017, Banks posted about Rihanna on Instagram, calling into question the singer's immigration status and criticizing her tweets which criticized then-President Trump's executive order to ban citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S.

"As far as Rihanna (who isn't a citizen, and can't vote) and all the rest of the celebrities who are using their influence to stir the public, you lot really REALLY need to shut up and sit down," Banks wrote.

Rihanna subtly replied to Banks' attack. "The face you make when you a immigrant", she wrote in the caption. The singer also referenced Banks' alleged sacrificing of live chickens using the hashtags #stayawayfromthechickens, #iheartnuggets and #saveourhens.

RuPaul

In 2018, Banks fired at drag queen and TV personality RuPaul, accusing him of plagiarizing The Big Big Beat with the 2017 song "Call Me Mother." Banks tweeted “You will not step on my little black girl toes bitch. You will take your razor bumps and pumps to the nearest laser hair removal clinic and seethe. @RuPaul BYE UGLY” before claiming that she was filing claims against him. This altercation would cause his corresponding album American to be temporarily removed from Spotify.

Skai Jackson

In 2016, Banks got into a spat with then 14 year old Skai Jackson after the actress tweeted out "Azealia Banks needs to simmer down a little." in defense of Zayn Malik. Banks did not take kindly to this, replying "and you need to grow some hips and start ur menses. stay in a child's place." Banks would then reply, “LOL, says the Disney Channel Reject. … You know they don't like girls your color. Enjoy while it lasts, ur mom's been pimping you out to disney since you were a lil girl. lets see what you end up like at 21. bye !" Jackson would end the feud, tweeting "I had a career before Disney and I'm sure I will after! And I know I won't turn out like you bitter and miserable! Fix ur life ... and I'm sure my mom did a wayyy better job then yours did! You give black woman a bad name. I'll be praying for you."

Wendy Williams

In 2017, Banks' found herself embroiled in a feud with talk show host Wendy Williams after the host chimed in on the feud between Banks and Remy Ma. During the segment, Williams insinuated that Banks was doing prostitution to raise money for vaginal rejuvenation. "Now we understand how she gets her money, she's got no kids and she's 26, with a vaginal rejuvenation? Wow. she works hard for her money." Banks made claims that these comments made her cry and accused Williams of bullying. "Wendy Williams accuses Azealia Banks of prostituiton???????????????????? This is a whole new low.. I'm legitimately in tears. This hurt the type of shit that becomes acceptable to say to azealia banks is nuts."

In 2018, Williams would once again discuss Banks' antics on her show, this time talking about the Wild 'n Out situation. "She seems to be smart, but angry. Her anger seems to be the problem, I'm not familiar with her music, I'm just familiar with her anger." Banks' would take to her Instagram story to make reference to Williams passing out on air in October 2017. "Omg can Wendy Williams have another stroke on TV and finally drop dead? I would love to see her die on air."

Zayn Malik

In 2016, Banks was dropped as a headliner of the Born & Bred Festival in London after she tweeted about Zayn Malik following the release of his "Like I Would" video, which she claimed was similar to some of her previous videos and outfits. She started out playfully, tweeting, "Damn Zayn be mood boarding the f— out of me… I'm not mad about this though. Zayn is a cutie pie", before tweeting racial and homophobic epithets at him. The trolling expanded to include the Capital Breakfast show in London, who Banks criticized for tweeting at her that they were playing Malik's music.

Grimes

In 2018, Banks flew to LA to collaborate with Grimes in her and Elon Musk's shared LA mansion. After claiming to get the runaround from grimes for multiple days, she then took to instagram to accuse Grimes of only flying her out there to attempt to faciliate a threesome between the singers and Musk, claimed to watch Musk tweeting about his company stock prices while on acid, and that she had been left alone in the mansion for days at a time while grimes was nowhere to be found. Banks later leaked messaged between herself and grimes insulting each other privately, Grimes calling Banks "fat" and Banks calling Grimes "a methhead who smells like a roll of nickels". Banks later posted a public Instagram story asking Musk to drop Grimes and instead "let her show him a good time".

Arca

In 2021, Arca and Banks announced a collaboration on an upcoming track, as well as Arca working on a remix of a "Wings of a Butterfly", neither of which came to fruition. After months, Banks went on an Instagram story rant where she misgendered Arca, calling her a man, accused her of faking being trans for clout, and messaging individual fans that "there was more behind the scenes" that they were not aware of. Later Banks claimed that both FKA Twigs and Kelela had ceased working with Arca because of inappropriate and rude behavior on Arca's part. Arca responded that she did not care about what Banks had said about her and still wanted to put out the collaborations. Arca and FKA Twigs later collaborated on twigs' mixtape Caprisongs on Tears in the Club and Thank You Song

Russell Crowe

In 2016, Banks accused Russell Crowe of spitting on her and calling her the n-word during a party in hotel room in October 2016. Crowe had Banks removed from the party after, according to him, Banks threatened to cut the throat of other party goers. In 2017, RZA acknowledged that he had seen Crowe spit at her.

Diplo

In 2023, Banks publicly accused Diplo of having HIV, knowingly spreading the disease, and engaging in sex tourism in Brazil. She also said how he groomed her when she was 17 years old and has a pattern of grooming underage/freshly legal black teenage girls. Banks accused him of doing "racist and demeaning things" when she was "a little fucking girl", as well as coercing her into having sex with him.

Feuds between organizations and companies

Wild N Out Episode

In 2018, Banks appeared on Wild N Out and shortly after filming accused the cast of preplanning colorist jokes and making her cry. On July 15, 2018, Banks posted on Instagram: "I did Wildin' out today. There were tons of pre-planned colorist jokes and of course [...] cry baby cried. Some little scrawny black Atlanta twink was prepared for me. They planned this – hit me on short notice, told me I didn't have to participate in the coon ass freestyle battles, (not my style) and I was to sing my song and go home".

Nick Cannon would make a cryptic post on instagram, saying "Don't you hate when you create your own storms but forget your umbrella??? @azealiabanks We are praying for you Queen #speedyrecovery #Healing. She #Wildnout for real #Karma". He would later on claim the reaction was due to self-hatred and self-hurt, stating, "She probably has had those problems and insecurities of being a darker complexion woman. And in her community, cause she often talks about dating white men and all that stuff, she's probably not looked at as beautiful to her other peers."

Against countries and nationalities

Australia

Towards the end of 2022, Banks cancelled a show in Brisbane just hours before she was due to go on stage, citing a past concert in the city where a member of the audience threw a bottle at her as "the most racist, most demoralizing experience of my fucking life". She has also vowed to never return to Australia on tour. "This place makes me utterly miserable and I'm too black and beautiful to have a bunch of white people in my face playing with me over their WEAK ASS CURRENCY," she said.

Banks claimed that "the Australian music industry and Australian culture is so trash" because of the country's "historical post colonial obsession" with "trying to prove to England and the Monarchy" that they "were in fact a proper white/Anglo-saxon society".

Brazil

In 2017, Banks' Facebook account was suspended or deleted after she posted that the people of Brazil had to eat farofa, which translates to crumbs, which sparked outraged from Brazilians.

Ireland

In 2019, Banks posted that Irish people should be quarantined and mocked the 19th-century Great Famine in Ireland. Writing to one follower, she said: "'Don't you have a famine to go die in?" In another post, she wrote "You lot are a bunch of prideful inbred leprechauns who have ZERO global influence and ZERO white privilege."

Israel

In 2018, Banks tweeted that she experienced widespread racism after performing in Israel and vowed to never return, unless "it's for some real money." She said that from the time she boarded the El Al flight to Israel, people mistreated her due to racism.

Lawsuits

Elon Musk and Tesla

Azealia Banks has been subpoenaed in a lawsuit against Tesla and Elon Musk. Banks confirmed to Business Insider that she was subpoenaed in early April 2024 after posting a photograph of the document on her Instagram. Banks is being subpoenaed by attorneys for plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against Musk and Tesla. The lawsuit, filed by Tesla investors in 2018, alleges that Musk made false and misleading statements when he tweeted that funding was "secured" to take Tesla private at $420 a share in 2018.

Bouncer assault charge

In December 2015, Banks was charged with assault after an altercation at the Up & Down nightclub in New York. Banks allegedly cursed out a female bouncer who didn't recognize her, then punched and bit her when the woman removed her from the club.

Banks pled guilty to third-degree assault in exchange for a deferred no-jail sentence in March 2017 over the incident.

Royalties dispute with her ex–label CEO

In June 2020, she asked the actor and former N.W.A. member for help getting royalties she claimed were owed her by veteran entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz in his role as CEO of Prospect Park, the label and management company that released Banks' influential debut album, 2014's Broke With Expensive Taste. According to Kwatinetz, Banks started ranting against him and Prospect Park in June 2020 with "blatantly false claims", alleging he was withholding royalties. "Banks' claims run the gamut of the absurd and could easily be ignored and written off as the rantings of a lunatic, but her recent rants took an ominous and dangerous turn," his complaint states.

Witchcraft and zoosadism

Sacrificed chickens

Banks posted an Instagram story on Thursday showing her cleaning up what looks to be the mess that comes with keeping (and possibly sacrificing) chickens in the closet for magical purposes. Donning a face mask and equipped with a power sander, the rapper got to work removing a heavy coat of feathers and more. In the since-deleted Instagram clip, Banks can be seen wearing safety goggles and a bandana as she prepares to clean her blood-stained closet.

Cooking a dead cat

Banks took to Instagram to share a video, which was quickly deleted, featuring her and an unknown person digging up the buried cat as she laughed in the background and made up a rap about it. According to Banks, the seemingly horrific act was akin to taxidermy. The 29-year-old rapper says she was actually cleaning the cat, whose name was "Lucifer", to prepare to take him with her to Florida. She also planned to have his skull gilded. In subsequent posts, Banks compared the cleaning ritual to those found in Catholicism, Christianity and Judaism, before adding that she was "heartbroken" when the cat died.

References

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