‘This place makes me utterly miserable’: Azealia Banks refuses to tour Australia again

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December 13, 2022

By Sian Cain, The Guardian

US rapper cancels Brisbane gig hours before she was due on stage, citing a past experience having a bottle thrown at her

Azealia Banks singing on stage — Azealia Banks performs on stage at The O2 Ritz in Manchester, England. Katja Ogrin/Redferns)

Azealia Banks has vowed she will never return to Australia while on tour in the country, and 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”.

The US rapper was due to perform in Brisbane and Melbourne earlier this week, but both gigs were postponed due to “visa issues”. She performed in Sydney on Sunday night and her Melbourne show, which was cancelled hours before she was set to perform on 10 December, has been rescheduled for this Saturday.

But on Tuesday, Banks took to Instagram to announce her performance in Brisbane that night would be cancelled, detailing her past experiences in the city.

“I’m so sorry you guys – actually I’m not sorry – but listen: last time I was in Brisbane and y’all threw shit on the stage and damn near almost fucking hit me in the face with a fucking bottle of soda or whatever that shit was,” Banks said in a video. “That was the most racist, most demoralising experience of my fucking life and right now I’m on a really good track.”

[…]

She called this Australian tour her “farewell tour”.

“After this run this will be my very last time touring Australia,” she said. “This place makes me utterly miserable and I’m too black and beautiful to have a bunch of white people in my face playing with me over their WEAK ASS CURRENCY.”

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