A U.S. singer-songwriter has claimed she was pressured to make ‘Free Palestine’ statements from the stage at two upcoming music festivals—prompting her to withdraw.
As part of a lengthy, expletive-laden post on X, Azealia Banks wote:
So guys I am cancelling Boomtown and Maiden Voyage, the promoters have been stressing me out for weeks trying to force me to say free Palestine and threatening to cut me from the bill because I won’t say free Palestine and I’m not dealing with the threats and I’m not putting on a f*cking hijab.
The rapper claims that promoters of the events, being staged near Winchester and in London respectively, have caved in to fashionable lobbying from “some no-name dj’s” and “gays for Hamas.”
Previously Banks has stated that “No Black Person Should Support Palestine,” due to anti-black racism across the Arab world. She now looks—like Winston Marshall, among others—set to join the list of performers blackballed by the music industry for having the ‘wrong’ views. Unlike her fellow rappers Ireland’s pro-Hamas, pro-Hezbollah Kneecap, she also seems unlikely to have her peers back her up against authoritarian trends.
