Back in October, Russell Crowe and Azealia Banks got into an altercation during a private party in Beverly Hills. The highly publicized scuffle supposedly happened after Banks laughed and made some comments about the music playlist of Crowe, who was hosting the event. Crowe and his guests alleged that Banks lashed out and made both verbal and physical threats to those in attendance. However, the rapper placed the blame solely on Crowe, claiming that he was the one who incited the incident. “He called me a “n****r, choked me, threw me out and spat at me,” she wrote on Facebook.
Following the altercation, Banks filed a report with local authorities. Now, some two months later, a Los Angeles County District Attorney has weighed in on the case and found that Crowe was not at fault that night. As TMZ reports, the D.A. who decided not to bring charges against Crowe said the actor’s actions at the party — the removal of Banks from the event and the spitting — were “justified to prevent the imminent violence threatened by Banks.” Witnesses brought in for the case, most of whom were Crowe’s guests, continued to side with the actor, reiterating that Banks had picked up a glass and threatened to cut someone.
Along with yet another entry of bad press for Banks, the incident with Crowe led to the dissolution of a creative/business partnership with RZA, who was in attendance at the party and had invited the rapper as his plus-one. According to Banks, the Wu-Tang Clan member was “a chump” who failed to come to her defense.
