WASHINGTON, May 13 (UPI) — Azealia Banks has been suspended from Twitter after directing racial slurs toward singer Zayn Malik.
Visitors to her Twitter page early Thursday morning saw a notification message saying “This account has been suspended. Learn more about why Twitter suspends accounts, or return to your timeline.”
The suspension is most likely connected to her latest Twitter rant earlier this week, which spewed hate on Malik’s Pakistani background after she claimed the former One Direction singer copied her style. She also personally attacked 14-year-old Disney star Skai Jackson during the tirade.
The rapper has attempted to explain her reaction on Instagram, posting screenshots of messages regarding her suspension.
“REALIZE that I insulted Indians, Pakistani, black folk…And my Twitter didn’t get suspended until I said “WHITENESS IS A MENTAL ILLNESS’ you guys need to pay the [expletive] attention to what is Happening here,” she posted Thursday night.
Regarding her anger and hateful speech toward 14-year-old Jackson, Banks wrote she believed the actress was “unremarkable.”
“Skai Jackson is an unremarkable black actress filling a black girl niche on a white television station,” she said of the stars’ Disney career in one post.
Accounts on Twitter can face suspension for several reasons, especially for breaking the Twitter Rules, which ban threats, harassment and hateful speech among its users.
“You may not incite or engage in the targeted abuse or harassment of others,” Twitter explains on its website. “You may not promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or disease.”
Since the suspension, an unverified account bearing Banks’ name reportedly surfaced, with one of the first tweets reading “I’ve realised I should probably just stick to music the world can’t handle the truth.” However, that account was also taken down.
Following her rant, during which she also put down British black women, Banks was also cut from her headlining spot at the Rinse FM’s Born & Bred Festival in London.
