Azealia Banks has suggested she may take legal action against The 1975’s Matty Healy after he threatened to “slap” her during a heated exchange on social media.
Taylor Swift’s ex-boyfriend has apologised and vowed to “stick to music” following the online spat.
The dispute 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.
“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.”
After reflecting on his outburst, the Chocolate singer admitted he regretted his words, citing a lack of emotional maturity.
“Guys, I don’t have the right kind of intelligence/emotional maturity for social media. I literally just end up saying stuff that I immediately regret,” he posted online.
Healy also vowed to step back from social media, adding: “I’m actually just gonna stick to music because I’m good at that. Having manic episodes on Twitter at 35 is kinda pathetic.”
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**king tired. People are gonna learn some f**king 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.”
AZEALIA BANKS WILL BE ATTACHED TO THE 1975'S SEO FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS. he's been in my DM apologizing and begging me not to sue but I'm fucking tired. And people are gonna learn some fucking respect.
— Azealia Banks (@azealiaslacewig) December 4, 2024
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.
