Got $5 for Azealia Banks? Rapper crowdfunding for lawsuit against Russell Crowe
Azealia Banks wants you to help fund a lawsuit against Russell Crowe.
The rapper has started a GoFundMe campaign to sue the Gladiator star for a 2016 hotel incident that began as a small party and turned ugly. Four days into the campaign, Banks has raised about $2,000 of her $100,000 goal.
“Russell Crowe spit on me at a party in 2016 and denied it, had a group of people gaslight me causing irreparable damage to my acting career and my reputation as well as loads of emotional damage,” Banks summarized the campaign. “Whatever money comes of this will be donated to ocean clean up charities. This isn’t about a big pay day for me, it’s about letting the world know that black women are victims to the same sort of disgusting violence men in Hollywood deal out to women, and it’s important to send a message that black women also deserve justice and will get justice in these situations. Crowe called me a n*****, choked me, and spat on me … if I were a white singer he wouldn’t have even thought about laying a finger on me. So many things like this happen in the entertainment industry and it’s time that ALL these perpetrators get reprimanded so they STOP this violent behavior !!”
Crowe did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office sided with him regarding the events on the night. Officials said in December 2016 that they wouldn’t be charging him, because his actions were “justified to prevent the imminent violence threatened by Banks.”
TMZ reported that witnesses said Crowe bear-hugged Banks and removed her from his room after she threatened to stab guests with her glass at a small party and repeatedly used a racial epithet. The argument reportedly began when Banks insulted Crowe’s choice of music and another woman stepped in to defend him.
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