Azealia Banks is involved in another social media feud. Less than one month after deleting and reinstating her Twitter account, the controversial rapper is facing a lawsuit from Sarah Palin.
The former governor of Alaska says she plans on suing Banks for a series of explicit since-deleted tweets that the Slay-Z rapper posted, including this one: “Let’s find the biggest burliest blackest negroes and let them run a train on her. Film it and put it on worldstar.”
Those comments were based on a fake story that Banks believed to be true. In the base-less piece, Palin was quoted as saying that black people willingly accepted slavery. However, as Banks has learned, that was not from a real article.
In response to the tweets, Palin penned a letter to Banks on Facebook. “Hey Female Rapper – listen up, little darling. No one has any idea what you’re wigging out about in these bizarre, violent rants against me, but you’re obviously not exercising enough intelligence to acknowledge you’ve been sucked into believing some fake interview in which I supposedly offered comments representing the antithesis of my truth,” she wrote.
She also called for unity. “Why don’t we strengthen both our platforms and work together on something worthwhile – like condemning racism, along with empowering young women to defend themselves against a most misogynist, degrading, devastating assault perpetrated by evil men – rape.”
Banks responded with an apology. “Since learning that the article was not published officially, I sincerely apologize for any emotional distress or reputational scarring i may have caused you,” she told Palin in an open letter.
https://twitter.com/azealiabanks/status/717466550312312832
https://twitter.com/azealiabanks/status/717485214793072640
”In my honest defense, i was completely kidding,” she added. “I happen to have a really crass, New-York-City sense of humor, and regularly make silly jokes in attempts make light of situations which make me uncomfortable. As the fabric of the American Nation is EMBEDDED with racism, I merely made a raCIALly driven joke to counter what i believed to be real, raCIST rhetoric. Also, i never said you should be raped. I used the term “run a train,” which is slang for group sex, NOT for ‘rape.'”
It’s unclear whether this letter will stop Palin from suing, but the former politician told PEOPLE that the tweets were harmful to her in many ways.
“I’ve had enough of the unanswered threats and attacks against my family and me,” Palin said. “So, for the first time I’m going to enjoy the only retribution some protected ‘celebrities’ seem to understand—I’m suing Azealia Banks and can’t wait to share my winnings with others who have gone defenseless against lies and dangerous attacks far too long.”