Banks says Crowe attacked her after she rejected his advances.
Azealia Banks has broken the silence on her reported altercation with Russell Crowe, in which she alleges the Gladiator actor “choked” and “spat” on her at a party and called her racial slurs.
Talking to The Sun last night (October 18), the rapper maintains that she was attacked by Crowe during a party in his room at the Beverly Hills Hotel. In addition to this, the singer now says that Crowe had taken a cocktail of weed, vodka, whisky and moonshine that night and attacked her after she rejected his advances.
Banks calls the actor “a racist, misogynist pig,” in her interview with The Sun. “This is a stain on me. My femininity feels stained. I feel stained as a woman, I feel mishandled, I feel mistreated, I feel dirty. I feel very fucking low,” she says.
She breaks down her version of events, in which she claims Crowe was flirting with her and reportedly touching her leg and complimenting her music before he called her “beautiful.” Later in the night, a woman, whom Banks presumed was Crowe’s girlfriend, sat next to her and said: “Russell thinks you’re so hot,” to which Banks replied: “You know, I’m not here for that.”
Banks explains that the mood shifted after she began to poke fun at an aspiring filmmaker and that Crowe “just kind of switched” after that. “He was like, ‘Well you know what? You’re young and you’ve never done anything in your career so you don’t know what you’re talking about,’” she said. “I’m a little offended but I was still keeping it light. I was like, ‘Your best days are behind you.’”
The female guest then jumped in to defend Crowe and confronted Banks about her comments which is when Banks reportedly launched a tirade against the room, threatening violence. This is when Banks alleges Crowe attacked her.
Crowe has since denied all claims of violence and using racial slurs, with several party guests coming forward to support his story, including fellow guest, comedian Jim Jefferies, who tweeted Crowe’s account of the events, adding: “This is 100 per cent the truth.
On Monday, Banks filed a battery report with the Beverly Hill Police Department after Crowe refused to apologise. The Beverly Hills Police Department has reportedly now received statements from four other party guests, who say Banks was acting “erratic.” TMZ has since reported that law enforcement will be checking out the security camera footage in the hotel’s hallway.
UPDATE: TMZ reports that Banks is no longer signing to RZA’s label over the alleged assault. RZA’s rep reportedly called Banks this week to discuss closing the deal but Banks made it clear that she is no longer interested in the contract.
