Azealia Banks raises funds to sue Russell Crowe after hotel incident

AZEALIA Banks just won’t let go of her beef with Russell Crowe.

The rapper has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise US $100,000 (AUD $135,945) to help her sue Crowe, who she claims bear-hugged her, spit at her and used a racist slur after she allegedly threatened to attack dinner party guests with a glass back in October 2016.

So far, Banks has raised US$1,893 (AUD $2,573).

“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, 27, claims on the GoFundMe page.

She wrote that any money she receives from the lawsuit will go to charities that clean up the ocean.

“This isn’t about a big payday [sic] 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,” she wrote, “and it’s important to send a message that black women also deserve justice and will get justice in these situations.”

On her Instagram story, however, Banks said she might “f*** the Russell Crowe thing and use those donations to give back to NY foster children in the city … I can cook a lot of meals for kids with whatever is in the fund.”

According to the New York Post, in December 2016 the Los Angeles County District Attorney decided not to press charges against 54-year-old Crowe. Instead, the DA viewed the Oscar winner’s actions as an attempt to stop Banks from escalating the hotel room fight any further.

According to the DA’s office, Crowe’s actions were “justified to prevent the imminent violence threatened by Banks” and that his alleged spitting — on her “gloved hand” — was “incidental to preventing more serious threatened violence.”

Eyewitnesses claim the 25-year-old was behaving “erratically” at the party, and a disagreement broke out after Banks mocked the music selection at the event and called the guests at Crowe’s party “boring white men”.

When a female guest stepped in to defend Crowe, the source quotes Banks as saying: “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***.”

The rapper is alleged to have reached for a glass, at which point Crowe stepped in and “grabbed her in a bear hug and carried her out of the suite,” TMZ reported.

“He then called hotel security guards who removed Azealia from the grounds.”

According to police, several witnesses confirmed Crowe’s version of events.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and has been republished with permission.

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