Aus Promoter Hits Back At ‘Disgraceful’ Azealia Banks Behaviour

Well, Azealia Banks has gone on another tirade against her fans in Australia. She has additionally blasted promoters Bizarro and Point Productions.

Taking to her Cheapyxousa Instagram account, the 212 rapper wrote, "My gut instinct told me not to come down here and stay my ass home. Next time I will listen to myself. For I am more often than not.... always right".

She added in another Instagram story, "YALL WHITE PEOPLE DOWN HERE ARE BROKE AND RACIST LMAO," and called out Aussie tour promoters Bizarro and Point Productions, labelling them "pubic lice". 

News.com.au contacted the promoters for comment about Banks' claims of not getting paid. Point Productions assured news.com.au that the allegations of Banks not getting paid were "untrue", while Bizarro issued a lengthy statement about the entire tour. "It should be noted that half of Azealia's double offer fee was paid to her agent in May 2022," the company told news.com.au.

The statement from Bizarro reads:

“It goes without saying that the last two weeks have amounted to by far the most physically and mentally draining experience in this industry for us,” the statement reads.

“A couple of months before the tour, Azealia posted to Instagram stating the Australian tour was cancelled. This was quickly reversed, however she had already generated doubt in her Australian fan base. Soon after this, Azealia's primary Instagram account was banned, the reason for which we do not know.

“We found out that things then began to fall apart when Azealia's visa request, filed by Point Blank Group, was pushed back on by immigration around two weeks prior to the tour. Further documentation including a character reference as well as police reports were apparently requested due to a legal matter involving Azealia a number of years ago.

“Ultimately her visa was still unapproved 24 hours before our Melbourne show, which was when we were first informed of the issue. On the morning of the show we did everything we could to aid the application process so that she would make her flight from Auckland to Melbourne with an approved visa.

“Unfortunately, final approval from the Visa Applicant Character Consideration Unit (VACCU) came around 20 minutes after the last feasible flight from Auckland to Melbourne departed. We tried everything to get her into the country including calling every private jet company we could find, however it proved impossible due to fuel shortages and late notice.

“This resulted in the cancellation of her Melbourne show just hours before doors, with the full venue cancellation fee being incurred due to the fact we were within 24 hours of the show.

“In essence even if we cancelled the show as soon as we were informed of her visa issue, we still would have been liable for the full venue fee. Azealia then took to Instagram with a screenshot of the cancellation statement to claim ‘there will be no rescheduled Melbourne show’ and even after hours of desperate work, she claimed we were dragging our feet.

“The following day we were informed that Azealia was willing to do a rescheduled show the following weekend, however our original venue was no longer available. With our Sydney show just hours away we spent the day ensuring Azealia was kept happy for her performance, knowing all too well that there was the risk she wouldn't be willing to step on stage.

“Whilst on site at the venue we were informed that Azealia had been sending abusive messages to her manager and to avoid interacting with her. We were told to have no other artists in entire backstage area. She arrived at the venue around 30 minutes after her performance was meant to begin, despite consistent advice made to her throughout the day that a late start could result in her set being cut short due to the Enmore Theatre's operating hours. We are beyond grateful to the management of the venue for their flexibility and assistance with this issue.

“We met with Azealia and her team the following morning to discuss her rescheduled show. Throughout this meeting we were informed that our role as the promoters for Sydney and Melbourne was never raised with their team. She personally expressed gratitude for putting on the Sydney show, and told us how we should all work together to deliver a Melbourne performance the following weekend that lived up to the standard set at The Enmore Theatre.

“Numerous promises were made by Azealia and her team, including the use of social media to create positivity and excitement for a show that she previously claimed wouldn't be rescheduled and the aid of merchandise sales to help recover from the losses incurred thus far. There was also the consistent mention of Azealia's upcoming single, and that this whole process would be worth the stress because of her intention to come back in the middle of next year. She told us that she loved being here, and that she needed to get out of Miami.

“The next day, after spending countless hours trying to get a venue that could hold enough people, Azealia’s Brisbane show was cancelled. She then took to Instagram again, making numerous claims about how she resented being in Australia and never wanted to come back here. We were blown away, knowing full well that our ticket holders would be doubtful of a performance in Melbourne. With the previous day's conversations fresh in our mind, we couldn't believe how quickly her perspective had changed.

“The remainder of the week was spent tirelessly pulling together our replacement show for Azealia. We felt that we owed it to our supporters to deliver on our promise despite the fact we were going against a rapidly crumbling sense of positivity for the show, reflected in a rapid increase in demand for refunds. Payment was made to Azealia's touring agent.

"Throughout this process we weren't given any help whatsoever from Azealia or her team, being told directly by Azealia that it was our job to convince people she would perform despite our conversation just days earlier. Azealia performed that Saturday in Sydney at Ivy, arriving approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes late. The following morning she missed her flight to Melbourne, arriving in the city close to 4 hours later than planned. Our team worked tirelessly to ensure she would play a full set length, such as moving her set time half an hour earlier, assuming she would be late.

"We had a van waiting outside of her hotel to take her to the venue at the agreed time of 8:30PM, she did not leave her hotel room until 10PM, arriving at the venue well beyond what would be considered reasonable. We told her tour manager countess times that there was a strict curfew at the venue which had no flexibility. Unsurprisingly, she had no respect for this condition, brought a private team and payment gateway to sell her merchandise without us approving it, and performed well under the expected set length.

“We were soon informed that later on Sunday evening she arrived over 2 hours late for her performance at Chasers in Prahran, and refused to get on stage unless the promoter paid her additional money in cash. We were advised by a former member of Azealia's team yesterday that we would be wise to get a statement out as Azealia was likely to post slanderous and defamatory content very soon.

“Little did we know she would be claiming we had been paid off her hard work, despite losing tens of thousands of dollars due to her cancelled show and willingness to destroy the hope of a successful replacement show. She has claimed to have not been paid a dime, despite the fact her generous artist fees have been paid by us in full.

“Whilst we have paid our fees to Azealia's touring agent, we have also been led to believe that the majority of her tour has been paid to her personally in full, despite her willingness to burn down every show of the run. Her slanderous claims made against us personally as individuals and scammers are entirely false. Whilst we don't generally expect contracted artists to assist us in promoting their shows, we certainly haven't ever had an artist actively work against us like this.

“We were not naive to Azealia’s reputation, but we were excited by her as an artist and felt confident that these were over sensationalised by the media and that she meant well. The lack of care she shows to her team, the people she works with, and her fans was truly disappointing to see. She was not present for any press opportunities, she failed to arrive at any event in a timely manner, she willingly posted inaccurate, disrespect and slanderous content online, and her lack of care and appreciation for her fans, who make such an event possible, was disgraceful.”

After Point Productions shared the Brisbane date was unable to proceed "due to unforeseen circumstances" that were "well out of our control", Banks used her burner Instagram to air grievances with Australian fans.

She said, “I’m so sorry you guys, actually I’m not sorry, but listen: last time I was in Brisbane and ya’ll threw shit on the stage and damn near almost fucking hit me in the face with a fucking bottle of soda or whatever that shit was. That was the most racist, most demoralising experience of my fucking life and right now I’m on a really good track."

She continued to say that she has "enough emotional intelligence to erase room for error before it happens" and potentially not perform the show in Brisbane because the Australian media would "make it [her] fault".

She followed up those stories by outlining the conditions that the show would need to be under in order to perform, stating, "I will come to Brisbane, there's gonna be loads of security measures because y'all are not about to play in my fucking face. Not while I've worked so hard and finally gotten another major label break.

"Any and everything that can be considered a projective must be checked in at coat check. No keys, no coins, no hair brushes, no vape pens, no lighters. No drinks on the dancefloor. The minute something stupid happens I'm leaving."

She continued to comment on Australian promoters, stating that they are "the only ones in the world who craft slave like contracts and try to hang revocation of work visas and non-payment over your head, even when you are in physical danger... completely souring the joy and bliss of performing."

"After this run this will be my very last time touring Australia," she said.

"This place makes me utterly miserable and I'm too black and beautiful to have a bunch of white people in my face playing with me over their WEAK ASS CURRENCY."

She then went on to trash the AUD and called this Australian tour her "farewell tour".

Banks' Australian visits have a track record of not going down well. In 2015, she performed at Splendour In The Grass festival, an experience she called a "waste of my fucking time". Banks also took radio announcer Paul Brown's tongue-in-cheek congratulatory tweet about finishing a complete set in Australia a little bit too deeply to heart and embarked on a scathing assessment of Australian gig-goers — who she called "terrible", as well as "violent and belligerent" in reply.

Cheapyxousa/Instagram

Cheapyxousa/Instagram

Cheapyxousa/Instagram