Azealia Banks refuses to tour Australia again because country makes her ‘miserable’

Azealia Banks, who is currently on tour in Australia, has vowed she will never return to perform in the country again.

The singer and rapper cancelled her Tuesday 13 December show in Brisbane hours before she was due to appear on stage, saying in an Instagram video that a past gig in the city was “the most racist, most demoralising experience of my f***ing life”.

Banks had been set to perform in both Brisbane and Melbourne earlier this week, but both concerts were postponed due to “visa issues”. She performed in Sydney on Sunday night (11 December) and her Melbourne show has been rescheduled for this Saturday (17 December).

“I’m so sorry you guys – actually I’m not sorry – but listen: last time I was in Brisbane and y’all threw s*** on the stage and damn near almost f***ing hit me in the face with a f***ing bottle of soda or whatever that s*** was,” Banks said in the clip shared on her social media.

“That was the most racist, most demoralising experience of my f***ing life and right now I’m on a really good track.”

She added: “Sydney and Melbourne are the only cities I really want to play. Y’all got a whole different culture around here. I am too far away from home… I am a beautiful Black woman and I am not going to get in front of some audience of white people for them to be throwing s*** at me.

“I am so not sorry. I am not sorry at all. Brisbane, y’all are just going to have to take the L and smoke it.”

She later said: “After this run this will be my very last time touring Australia.

“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.”

Earlier this year, Banks stormed off stage midway through her performance at Wynwood Pride in Miami, telling fans she was “really not happy to be here”.

In one video of the event, fans could be seen booing the “212” singer after she threw her microphone to the floor. As she walked off, one audience member appeared to throw a drink at her, prompting her to put both her middle fingers up at the crowd.

In 2016, Banks was suspended from Twitter following a series of racially charged tweets attacking singer and former One Direction star Zayn Malik. She later issued an apology.

She was suspended again in 2020 for a series of transphobic tweets.