Days after Azealia Banks accused actor Russell Crowe of assaulting her, the 25-year-old rapper has come forward to explain how the incident played out.
In an exclusive report by The Sun, Banks reiterated her claims that she was attacked by Crowe during a hotel party in Beverly Hills. Similar to her now-deleted Facebook post, she says she was choked, spat on, and repeatedly called the N-word by Crowe, who is said to have physically removed her from the party he was hosting. Banks also told The Sun that the actor was smoking weed as well as drinking vodka and moonshine before he become violent with her; however, sources who were at the party insist Crowe did nothing wrong, and that he simply bear-hugged her out of the party after she had threatened to stab a guest with a glass.
Banks maintains she was the victim.
“I think he’s a racist, misogynist pig,” she told 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.”
Banks told the publication Crowe was flirting with her before the night turned bad. He was 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—reportedly sat next to her to say “Russell thinks you’re so hot,” to which Banks replied: “You know, I’m not here for that.”
She said thing began to go downhill, however, when she made fun of another guest, who was an aspiring filmmaker.
“Russell just kind of switched. 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.’”
Banks, who was invited to Crowe’s hotel room by Wu-Tang Clan rapper RZA, said a woman at the party then confronted her about her remarks.
“I said, ‘Girl, this is not the right time or place for us to be fighting, like what would happen if I got up and I slapped the shit out of you, or I took a glass and fucking threw it at you and you were bleeding all over the place? I would be wrong and we’d all be wrong, and the party would be done.’”
It was at that time when Crowe grabbed Banks and removed took her into the hallway.
“He calls me a n*gger, and then grabs me, picks me up, he chokes me by the throat, picks me up, throws me out of the room and then spits on me,” she said. “You don’t just spit on somebody. And in front of everybody.”
Crowe has since denied the claims he had used racial slurs or got violent with the Harlem rapper. Several his guests have also come forth to support his story, insisting Banks’ actions warranted her removal.
“Azealia’s behaviour that night was abrasive, shocking, rude, offensive, abusive and erratic,” an unnamed source told The Sun. “She used the N-word repeatedly and hurled that insult at others repeatedly. Russell never used that word.”
On Monday, Banks filed a battery report after Crowe refused to apologize. The Beverly Hills Police Department has reportedly received statements from four other party guests, who said Banks was acting “erratic.” TMZ reports law enforcement is now looking at video captured by security cameras in the hotel’s hallway. Both Banks and Crowe are said to believe the footage will back their stories.
TMZ caught up with the Banks who explained what went down in her own words. Watch that below and stay tuned as more information comes through.
