Azealia Banks is taking legal action against Matty Healy after the 1975 frontman threatened to "slap" her in a now-deleted post.
Healy, 35, later apologised, attributing his outbursts on the platform to "manic episodes” and has since deleted his X account.
However, Banks, 33, has now shared a cease-and-desist letter from her lawyer to Healy on social media. The letter demands that Healy stop making further threats or defamatory statements about her, issue a public apology, and compensate Banks $1,000,000 (£828,000).
The letter read: “Your attacks against my client’s professional reputation, your overt racial epithets, and your most recent threats of physical violence against my client have been well-documented since you published them worldwide online.”
The cease-and-desist letter stated that the British rocker’s deletion of the posts and acknowledgment of them "constitutes evidence of an admission of guilt."
It also emphasised that Banks and Healy do not know each other, and accused the About You hitmaker of acting "intentionally with the specific purpose of causing [Banks] to be shocked, distressed, and emotionally injured through assaults by threat of physical harm."
The letter further accused Healy of cyberbullying and cyber harassment, claiming that his words caused Banks "extreme emotional distress."
“Due to your significant influence as a public figure, you have a duty to avoid reckless statements which have now raised serious concern that your followers may be invited to act upon your posts and commit an act of violence against my client,” it continued.
The letter also accused Healy of slander, libel, and business defamation after he described Banks' business as a "failure."
It read also: “Your repetitive wrongful, bad faith and malicious actions have seriously damaged and will continue to damage my client.”
The dispute between the two began when Banks shared the music video for Charli XCX’s 2014 song Break The Rules, commenting: “Charli used to be soooo pretty. Ugh” and then wrote “WeHo gays” for “having the girls questioning themselves”.
The British singer responded to her claims and commented: “Azealia you seem to have a blind spot when it comes to your ‘reads’. All the women you attack seem to be culturally relevant, attractive, divisive and NICE people.
Healy, defending Charli—fiancée of his bandmate George Daniel— added:”I think this makes you jealous because you’re so talented but everything else about you is a failure. Just rap bro.”
What followed was a fiery exchange, with Banks comparing Healy to "Frankenstein” and commenting about his fiancée, model Gabbriette.
Healy escalated the situation by writing in a now-deleted post: “I'll f****ng slap you so hard I'll get a Guinness world record for the highest a rat some b***h calls a wig has ever flown.”
However, he soon recognised the inappropriateness of his remark and issued an apology.
— Azealia Banks (@azealiaslacewig) December 8, 2024
“OK I’m gonna delete that tweet that was not cool even if I was angry,” he then wrote, before sharing another post which read: “I can’t be saying I’m gonna hit a girl that’s insane, I’m sorry.
“You just can’t keep being so mean about my mates and my mrs. It’s really hurtful [and] gets me well defensive.”
Addressing Banks directly, he deleted the threatening tweet and said: “Nah [for real] I was just trying to match your vibe, I’m scared now, I’m sorry bro. I was just sticking up for my mates. I’m not tough.”
Following his posts, Banks later claimed The 1975’s SEO manager had reached out to her, begging her not to pursue legal action.
However, she suggested she would proceed regardless, writing: “AZEALIA BANKS WILL BE ATTACHED TO THE 1975'S SEO FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS. He’s been in my DM apologising and begging me not to sue, but I’m f***ing tired. People are gonna learn some f***ing respect.”
This latest clash reignites tensions between Healy and Banks, stemming from an earlier confrontation over Banks’s criticism of Charli XCX’s SNL performance.
After Banks accused Charli of delivering a “lazy” interpretation of Ciara’s 1, 2 Step, Healy retorted: “Shut up, you f****ng prat. Being more annoying than me is actually impressive.”
Both musicians are no strangers to controversy, having frequently made headlines for their public feuds with fellow artists.
The 1975 frontman previously faced widespread backlash for comments about rapper Ice Spice during a podcast interview, which Banks also called him out on in May 2023.
At the time, the American hitmaker shared a photo of Healy performing on stage, alongside a headline referencing his apology to Ice Spice, while berating him in her caption.
Banks, meanwhile, has sparked her own share of outrage over the years, including being temporarily banned from X, formerly Twitter, for her use of racist, homophobic, and transphobic slurs.
