Azealia Banks dropped from Rinse FM festival following 'racist' and 'homophobic' rant aimed at Zayn Malik

Banks earlier apologised to 'everyone except the targets of my tirade'

Azealia Banks (Getty)

A music festival has dropped Azealia Banks from its headline slot following her “racist” and “homophobic” rant aimed at Zayn Malik.

On Tuesday, Banks indulged in a lengthy tirade aimed at the former One Direction singer. It began when she tweeted a suggestion that Malik’s new video was influenced by her work, Malik then posted two tweets which Banks believed to be directed at her.

This then spurred a rant which lasted hours and included racist and homophobic insults and slurs which led social media users to call on Twitter to suspend the 24-year-old’s account.

London-based grime and house radio station Rinse FM have since announced they have cancelled Banks’ appearance at their Born & Bred Festival which is scheduled to take place on June 4 in Hackney, east London.

The station shared a post on Twitter which said: “Rinse Born & Bred is a celebration of rave culture and has been created for EVERYONE. We celebrate inclusivity and equality.”

The New York based rapper attacked Malik in a series of tweets over night and this morning branding him a “curry scented b***h” and wrote: “Imma start calling you punjab you dirty b**ch”.

She also launched an attack on 14-year-old Disney actress Skai Jackson who told her to “simmer down”. Banks called Jackson a “little black b*tch”.

Banks has now deleted her entire Twitter history bar three recent tweets. Prior to doing so, she issued somewhat of an apology, though not directly at either Malik or Jackson.

“Big apologies to anyone who was offended by any of the things I said. Not sorry I said it. But sorry for the way I made people feel […] Everyone except the targets of my tirades,” she wrote.

“Remember that offence is never give, it is only taken. I apologise to everyone who TOOK offence,” she wrote.

She has since published a screengrab of messages she sent where she explains she was angry at Malik and wanted to remind him “that we’re both in the same boat in this industry and people of colour”.

A representative for Banks did not immediately respond to a request for comment.