A lawyer for rapper Azealia Banks sent a cease-and-desist letter to The 1975 frontman Matty Healy after he threatened to slap her during a heated exchange on X last week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The letter, dated Saturday, accuses Healy of making defamatory comments and threatening violence toward Banks. It demands that Healy cease making \u201cfurther threats and defamatory statements\u201d toward Banks. It also asks that he make a public apology and pay her $1 million in damages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Banks shared a copy of the letter on X on Sunday, but by Monday afternoon it had been removed with a note from X\u2002<\/a>that\u2002<\/a>s<\/a>aid\u2002<\/a>it violated the platform\u2019s rules<\/a>. Wallace Collins, an attorney for Banks, confirmed he prepared a letter on his client\u2019s behalf Saturday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Banks \u201cunequivocally stands by the factual allegations and legal claims as outlined in the December 7, 2024 letter,\u201d Collins said in an emailed statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Representatives for Healy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He was reported to have apologized on X for his comments before he deactivated his account. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNah I can\u2019t be saying I\u2019m gonna hit a girl that\u2019s insane I\u2019m sorry,\u201d he wrote, according to Entertainment Weekly<\/a>, which reported on the post last week before Healy\u2019s account was deactivated. \u201cYou just can\u2019t keep being so mean about my mates and my mrs it\u2019s really hurtful gets me well defensive.\u201d (NBC News did not see a copy of the X apology before it was removed.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n Healy and Banks began trading barbs last week after Healy criticized her over her post commenting on Charli XCX\u2019s appearance<\/a>. Healy told Banks that \u201cthe women you attack seem to be culturally relevant, attractive, divisive and NICE people. I think this makes you jealous cos you\u2019re so talented but everything else about you is a failure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Healy then made a post saying he would \u201cf— you up\u201d and \u201cslap\u201d anyone who insulted his fiance\u00e9, Gabbriette Bechtel<\/a>. Banks responded to that post<\/a> by saying that Bechtel looked like \u201cFrankenstein\u201d and that she and Healy, who has been open about recovering from heroin addiction<\/a>, \u201clook like you share needles.\u201d Healy then called Banks a \u201crat\u201d and threatened to \u201cslap\u201d her in a now-deleted post. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In a series of posts on X last week, Banks had said she planned to sue Healy for his remarks. She said<\/a> she was feeling \u201csevere emotional distress sending me spiraling and am beginning to feel physical effects.\u201d She also alleged that she went to the hospital because she was short of breath and had muscle tension and a migraine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe stress of this just won\u2019t allow my body to relax or sleep,\u201d she posted. \u201cI\u2019m too grown for people to still be on the internet threatening me while I sit and watch people go on and on about respecting black women.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Healy called his exchange with Banks \u201cself-destructive\u201d in a post<\/a> on the subreddit r\/The1975, which he has previously also used to interact with fans online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Healy is no stranger to controversy. Last year, he was criticized for mocking rapper Ice Spice\u2019s ethnicity<\/a>, but the two artists made amends<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m constantly making trouble for myself for no reason, I come back to social media after depressive episodes (which is NOT an excuse) because I often become sober, so as an addict when I\u2019m not using I pick up social media my new way of \u2018consuming\u2019 and changing how I feel,\u201d Healy wrote from the account TrumanBlackOG<\/a>, which is the moniker he goes by online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI just feel dreadful about how I acted violent \u2014 I think Azealia and all obvious flawed people all deep down have a heart and I hate that I have contributed to her mental fragility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the letter, Collins said Healy\u2019s words and his removal of his X posts were not enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYour removal of the damaging attack posts and your acknowledgement that your reaction was inappropriate does not undo the damage,\u201d the letter says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n