Just FYI: I really dislike covering Azealia Banks. For the past few years, she has seemed extremely mentally unbalanced, at times even violently so. She’s racist, homophobic and temperamental. And it seems like every few months, she’s involved in another f—king hideous situation where she’s clearly in the wrong, although she’ll never admit it. So I’m covering this mostly because it involves another celebrity, Russell Crowe, and I hope that this is not going to be some week-long story because I really cannot stand writing about Banks.
Russell Crowe bounced rapper Azealia Banks out of his hotel suite when she turned into the “plus one” from hell and threatened to cut his guests and watch them bleed … according to multiple witnesses. The bizarre incident went down Saturday night at Russell’s room at a Bev Hills hotel, where he’d invited about 10 people over to have dinner and listen to music. One of his guests was RZA, who brought Azealia along.
According to eyewitness accounts the trouble started when Azealia laughed out loud at Russell’s music selection, and then called him and at least one other guest, “boring white men.” We’re told a female guest jumped to Russell’s defense and suggested Banks pipe down. Instead, we’re told she made an insane speech/threat to Crowe and the woman …”You would love it if I broke my glass, stabbed you guys in the throat, and blood would squirt everywhere like some real Tarantino s***.” Then for good measure, witnesses say she dropped a few n-bombs … yet Crowe remained surprisingly calm.
We’re told Azealia reached for her glass, cocked it back … and that’s when Russell had enough — he grabbed her in a bear hug and carried her out of the suite. He then called hotel security guards who removed Azealia from the grounds. Azealia posted a different version of events, claiming Crowe called her the n-word, choked her, threw her out and spit on her.
We’re told at least 4 of the guests/witnesses gave statements during the investigation, and all 4 used the word “erratic” to describe Azealia’s behavior. For the record, we’re told … even RZA says she used the n-word, not Russell.
Sure, I believe that Russell Crowe physically removed Banks from the hotel suite. I believe he did so after she had some kind of crazy tantrum and after she threatened violence. I don’t get how Azealia Banks still gets to interact with people, you know? Twitter suspended her account after her spectacularly racist rant against Zayn Malik, and she’s become persona non grata in a lot of music circles for her violent tantrums at clubs and shows. Why did RZA think that she would behave differently this time? And Crowe was smart to not lose his temper, because he’s got one too. It sounds like he behaved appropriately.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
What in the world is wrong with this woman??? She’s claiming she is the victim, but if you’re constantly the “victim” in these types of situations, you just may be the problem.
She is a Trump supporter also .
I wonder who Chris Brown plans to vote for.
Because the presidential election is so relevant to his story. Right?
And bad behavior only happens by individuals who vote for one particular party, right ?
👀
Why am I not surprised by this
I know how,stupid, people vote for who they want in
the U SA.
Yikes, Dirty Martini, I hope you’re not implying that Donald Trump is representative of your entire political party. That doesn’t make you guys look too good.
@Lady Mimosa: People are well within their right to question the judgment of someone who would vote for a racist, misogynistic, delusional, unhinged sexual predator to become a country.
Agreed.
But also, are we all just skipping over the fact that Russell hangs out with RZA? Did everyone else know this? They’re close enough that RZA gets invited to a 10-person dinner party? That’s pretty intimate, like a “close friends” dinner party. Did I miss something in the world?
ETA: Banks is a struggling Black woman with mental health issues and perhaps self-hate issues (given the skin bleaching). She’s talented. I desperately want her to succeed. I desperately want her to get help. I’m also desperately running out of patience.
rza and russell crowe were in american gangster together and became friends. then crowe did a part in the man with the iron fists, which rza wrote directed and starred in. it is insanely bonkers and entertaining). i can believe they are very close friends.
Apparently they are very close. Russell Crowe calls him ‘Bobby Digs’ as a nickname based on his birth name. They met on the set of “American Gangster” about 10 years ago. The also made “The Next Three Days” together, which came out in 2010. The RZA did his big passion project writing, directing, and acting in The Man With the Iron Fist. He wrote a role for Russell. He (Crowe) said he wanted to make the film “because I believe in Bobby Diggs,” and because he had given him his word that “as a brother that I would turn up when he needed me to.”
AAAAAH. So I missed many things in the strange world of celebrity.
I’ve got a Black president and RZA and Russell Crowe are good friends… Times are a-changin’. #Blessed
And Bobby Digital was the title of RZA’s solo album, hence the Bobby Digs…
‘yet Crowe remained surprisingly calm’
…ok. i sort of struggle believing this.
Haha me too.
1. There was no phone involved
2. I don’t think he would harm a woman especially one that came as a plus one of a close friend
3. He seems to have mellowed with age and fatherhood
4. It was an intimate event with close friends intimate so he was probably more relaxed, his friends are able to judge him on a scale (“He was calm for him”) I’d imagine many of them had seen a wide scale to compare it too. Plus, it sounds like she was a mess and made quite a scene. Next to neon even bright colors look a bit dull. Plus, they probably want to keep the close friend status so they had to defend him against her vile allegations and not throw him under the bus.
He was in England recently, visiting a castle with his sons and people were quite surprised how calm and nice he was; I think he mellowed with age?
It is also quite a feat to remain calm in England these days, I’d like to slap so many people myself 😀
I met Russell years ago when he was up for an Oscar and super famous. He came into my place of work looking for a gift for his niece. He was so quiet and unassuming, and I don’t think anyone else even realised who he was. We didn’t have what he was after, so he thanked me and left.
The woman is clearly mentally unwell. I have no problem believing Russell recognised that and sought to have her removed from the situation quickly and without fuss.
Anger triggers are different for everyone
Maybe he knew he needed to contain a situation that was dangerous not add petrol to it
He was maybe furious afterward
Even Chris Brown doesn’t deserve to know her
Lmao excellent!
That would be the couple of century, can you imagine the break-up? It would be a nuclear catastrophe.
More likely to end with one of them dead or badly injured like Bobbi Kristina.
It would be Chris in the bathtub.
Banks is super scary to me, much scarier than Brown.
Brown is an entitled, rage monter who hates women and gay people. He’s predictable in his awful.
Banks is an entitled rage monster with a victim complex who hates the world, including women, gay people and anyone who is not herself. She lashes out without provocation, and seems completely illogical all the time. I’m saying major mental health issues, plus a nasty personality. Or major mental health issues, a nasty personality AND bad drugs.
It’s like picking the rattlesnake over the rabid rattlesnake.
Now I want this to happen!
She seems like such a horrible person. I wish she would disappear or at least that people would stop inviting her to things.
Love Russell as an actor and I’m impressed he handled this so calmly – I sure wouldn’t have been able to.
She’s so unstable it’s scary. Glad Russell did not escalate the situation (because he could have) and just removed her. Smh RZA should watch it before people start disinviting because of her unstable guests as well.
who is RZA? have i been living under a rock? Is this an abbreviation like HRC?
You’re not the only one that didn’t know who he is. I googled him to find out.
It’s his rap name – pron. Rizza. He was a member of the Wu Tang Clan.
A former member of Wu-Tang Clan, a very popular rap group in the 90’s & early 2000’s from Staten Island. Another popular member was Method Man.
There’s a thin line between victim and asshole. She seems to have MH problems though.
As I said below she’s said that she’s stated on twitter that she’s bi-polar. I remember over at Oh No They didn’t…..people were referring to her deleted FB post where she seemed to imply that *she* was the victim and called the N-word……but if these accounts are true ( and the reports of RZA account say they are true) …then she needs to some serious help ( or at least time off twitter etc
Remember the incident on the plane?
Even if she has received that diagnosis it still is not acceptable behavior. Also, just tossing it out like that perpetuates the misconception that mentally ill people are violent. They are not, most of the physical damage they cause is self inflicted injuries and they are statistically more likely to be the victim of violence than the perpetrator.
She makes me sad, probably because I work with young adults with severe mental health issues. Her reported behavior reminds me a lot of the youth that I work with. If, in fact, she does have mental health issues, I really hope she gets treatment soon.
She’s said on Twitter that she’s bi polar. But it seems like she’s not getting the help she needs
Yes, a lt of the things she does point to mental health issues. The people who could help her are probably the ones making money of her.
One of her friends should take her to a Psych hospital and have her admitted for danger to self and others. They can assess her and stay her out on meds.
If she’s been like this for awhile she probably doesn’t have real friends. Just enablers and hangers on.
An involuntary commitment is very difficult to do.
A 5150 (if in California) is doable. Just have to show that she is a harm to herself and/or others, get a psychiatric sign off, and they will hold her for up to 72 hours. Anything over that is a two psych sign off and is more difficult.
I think Rza recently signed her and perhaps felt that it would be good networking opportunity for her? I feel like her and Lindsay Lohan should get together
She’s been posting a lot on Facebook. I am a big fan of her music, I want her to get better so she can release new music and stop putting herself in harmful situations. I know Russell isn’t known to be a peach but the way the witnesses describe this event going down sounds like classic Banks.
I think she is going through severe mental turmoil. RZA recently signed her and I fear she is most likely dropped now.
And RZA has already said AB lied about her versions of events.
Never did I think these two would ever be involved in any way. Frankly, good for him. I know he’s usually no saint, but it’s obvious she’s mentally unwell, as well as a terrible person.
She’s just so extremely rude. You’re a freaking GUEST at someone’s dinner party – a person you don’t even know personally – and to make those “boring white men” comments at HIS music selection and expect not to get a response from the people present is just so unbelievably stupid. Please get help, girl. For real.
ETA: Azealia posted on her facebook that she has receipts. Guess you will have to post follow up stories this week, Kaiser!
I used to follow her on Instagram and she seemed super chill and cute and funny and even kind of sweet. But then you open up the proverbial newspaper and it’s just a constant shitshow. And it’s sad because she’s made some really good points about feminism and racism, but they’re buried under 80 tonnes of nonsensical word vomit.
I just have a feeling that Azealia just Isn’t going to end well, it’s going to be her own doing be it burning enough bridges she ends up destitute or harming herself, she has the same problem Lindsay Lohan has Histrionic personalities, and entitlement Issues, except Banks Reeeaaallyhas has a VERY Effed up Childhood and whatever it is that allows Lindsay to turn it off in front of a Judge or serious business people Azealia Lacks
She is ranting and raving on social media claiming that Russell Crowe called her the “n” word and choked her out.
I never want to say a woman is lying about being assaulted but Azealia Banks’ past behavior makes it real difficult to believe her. I really hope she gets the help she needs – she has gone off the rails the last couple of years.
She’s twisted the truth of assault before….remember the plane. I was neutral last night wanting to believe her but today……I’m thinking it was the other way round
Agreed. I absolutely 100% believe Crowe’s version of events. And it looks like RZA and everyone else at the party are backing him up as well.
This really bothered me. Accusing someone of using the “n” word is horrible. It is a word I have never heard uttered in my entire life living in Australia, and it is not part of our cultural lexicon (if that makes sense) – not even in an ironic/reclaimed way as in rap music. The word is completely taboo.
Of course we have our fair share of racist arseh0les, but I don’t think Crowe is one of them.
Ugh.
Poor thing. Crowe responded appropriately. As my grandmother would have said, she’s troubled and needs help.
When Russell Crowe is acting like the calm, stable one next to you, you pretty much know you’ve gone WAY too far.
They’re both messes with the rap sheets to prove it. I’m thinking the truth of what happened is probably somewhere in the middle.
As several others have said, Banks is extremely talented and I hope she’s able to get the help she clearly needs.
That girl is so vile. The only reason why I don’t say anything too bad about her when stories come out is because it’s very obvious she has mental health issues that aren’t being treated. But that still doesn’t excuse her nastiness.
It’s been a while she’s been like this and we don’t give passes to alcoholics or drug addicts who do shitty stuff and those are also forms of disease/mental illness so her time is well up. If you’re threatening to cut people, you should be institutionalised.
She is not well, and I hope someone can help her, because when you exclude whatever is going wrong with her upstairs, she’s got so many gifts.
Mental illness robs you of the life you should have gotten. I’m thinking more of someone in my family for whom that was tragically true, but it applies to Azealia too.
She filed a battery report against him with the Beverly Hills Police according to Gossip Cop.
I don’t know if she has MH issues or not, but sometimes people are just assholes and I think that’s the case with her.
I’m also kinda impressed that Crowe handled this so well?
If that was me and my dinner party… things definitely would’ve gone down differently lol
Yep, same here!
Rza used to go on the Craig Ferguson show and came off as a real gent – those two really got along well. And I can’t remember how, but Rza also met Ferguson’s parents and his mother just LOVED Rza and hanging out with him. And Crowe seems like life has dealt him so many punches he’s finally mellowed out. Soooo, I’m inclined to believe that Banks has some kind of issue…which is still unfortunate for her, but still, in this scenario, I don’t have trouble believing that Banks lost her peanut for some reason and that Crowe just calmly got up, picked her up and took her out to the front. It’s sort of funny actually.
I will reserve my judgement for when the tapes come out. Russell has a temper but that bish is nutz. I lean towards believing RC version of events.