The promoter behind Azealia Banks’s chaotic Australian tour has slammed her as the most “disgraceful” client they’ve ever worked with.
Bizarro was responsible for two of the US rapper’s shows as part of her Australia and New Zealand tour, in a deal finalised in May with touring agency Point Blank Group.
The trip was plagued from its inception, with last-minute show cancellations, varied sets and social media tirades culminating in Banks’s assurance she would never step foot on Australian shores again.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Bizarro said the past fortnight had been its most “physically and mentally draining” ever, suggesting it wasn’t “naive” to Banks’s reputation but felt she “meant well” and had been over-sensationalised in the media.
“The lack of care she shows to her team, the people she works with and her fans was truly disappointing to see,” it said.
“She was not present for any press opportunities, she failed to arrive at any event in a timely manner, she willingly posted inaccurate, disrespectful and slanderous content online, and her lack of care and appreciation for her fans, who make such an event possible, was disgraceful.”
In a final spray on Instagram earlier on Tuesday, Banks claimed Bizarro and Point Productions were “trying to cite all these stupid things as reasons not to pay me a dime” and had flown “all the way across the world to go home empty handed”.
“In all this attempt to assassinate my character there’s no mention of my mother fucking money, where is the money bitch, where the cash at?” she wrote on Instagram on Tuesday.
“… you’re trying to use a character assassination as a means to not pay someone for work that they did, just say you’re broke and fucking go.”
Bizarro slammed the claims as “slanderous” and “entirely false”.
“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,” Bizarro said, adding it had lost “tens of thousands” of dollars due to cancelled shows.
Visa troubles prevented Banks from flying to Melbourne up to 24 hours before her scheduled show on 10 December – the first time Bizarro said it was informed of the issue.
Bizarro said it did “everything” to aid the application process on the morning of the show but final approval arrived too late, resulting in the postponement of her first performance hours before doors.
Bizarro alleged the day of the following Sydney show at the Enmore Theatre, Banks arrived 30 minutes late, sent “abusive” messages to her manager and requested no other artists backstage. The performance was widely lauded by fans.
Bizarro said there had been “consistent mention” the process would be worth it due to her intention to return to Australia in 2023. “She told us that she loved being here and that she needed to get out of Miami,” it said.
The following day, Banks cancelled her show in Brisbane hours before she was due to go on stage, citing a past concert in the city as “the most racist, most demoralising experience of my fucking life” and Australia as an “utterly miserable” country.
“We were blown away,” Bizarro said. “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.”
Bizarro claimed Banks arrived at her rescheduled Melbourne shows hours late, performed “well under the expected set length”, at one point refusing to get on stage unless a promoter paid her “additional money in cash”.
“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,” it said.
Banks has been approached for comment.
