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.
The letter, dated Saturday, accuses Healy of making defamatory comments and threatening violence toward Banks. It demands that Healy cease making “further threats and defamatory statements” toward Banks. It also asks that he make a public apology and pay her $1 million in damages.
Banks shared a copy of the letter on X on Sunday, but by Monday afternoon it had been removed with a note from X that said it violated the platform’s rules. Wallace Collins, an attorney for Banks, confirmed he prepared a letter on his client’s behalf Saturday.
Banks “unequivocally stands by the factual allegations and legal claims as outlined in the December 7, 2024 letter,” Collins said in an emailed statement.
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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.
“Nah I can’t be saying I’m gonna hit a girl that’s insane I’m sorry,” he wrote, according to Entertainment Weekly, which reported on the post last week before Healy’s account was deactivated. “You just can’t keep being so mean about my mates and my mrs it’s really hurtful gets me well defensive.” (NBC News did not see a copy of the X apology before it was removed.)
Healy and Banks began trading barbs last week after Healy criticized her over her post commenting on Charli XCX’s appearance. Healy told Banks that “the women you attack seem to be culturally relevant, attractive, divisive and NICE people. I think this makes you jealous cos you’re so talented but everything else about you is a failure.”
Healy then made a post saying he would “f--- you up” and “slap” anyone who insulted his fianceé, Gabbriette Bechtel. Banks responded to that post by saying that Bechtel looked like “Frankenstein” and that she and Healy, who has been open about recovering from heroin addiction, “look like you share needles.” Healy then called Banks a “rat” and threatened to “slap” her in a now-deleted post.
In a series of posts on X last week, Banks had said she planned to sue Healy for his remarks. She said she was feeling “severe emotional distress sending me spiraling and am beginning to feel physical effects.” She also alleged that she went to the hospital because she was short of breath and had muscle tension and a migraine.
“The stress of this just won’t allow my body to relax or sleep,” she posted. “I’m 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.”
Healy called his exchange with Banks “self-destructive” in a post on the subreddit r/The1975, which he has previously also used to interact with fans online.
Healy is no stranger to controversy. Last year, he was criticized for mocking rapper Ice Spice’s ethnicity, but the two artists made amends.
“I’m 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’m not using I pick up social media my new way of ‘consuming’ and changing how I feel,” Healy wrote from the account TrumanBlackOG, which is the moniker he goes by online.
“I just feel dreadful about how I acted violent — 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.”
In the letter, Collins said Healy’s words and his removal of his X posts were not enough.
“Your removal of the damaging attack posts and your acknowledgement that your reaction was inappropriate does not undo the damage,” the letter says.
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