NEW YORK: Twitter suspended Azealia Banks after she went a step too far by launching racist attacks on former One Direction heartthrob Zayn.
The Twitter account of @AZEALIABANKS returned a message saying that it was suspended with a link to the service’s conditions, which lists “abusive tweets and behavior” as a reason for temporary removal.
The New York artist has been long been a controversial and prolific presence on Twitter, attacking fellow rappers — notably Iggy Azalea — and once urging the burning down of homes of ancestors of slave traders.
But she appeared to cross a line recently when she used epithets related to Muslims to attack Zayn, whom she accused of copying her style.
Banks, who is African American, at one point boasted that the US military would kill the family of Zayn Malik, a Briton who is partially of Pakistani descent and who has gone solely by his first name since leaving the boy band.
Banks on Wednesday stopped short of an apology but said she was angered that Zayn would not engage with her on Twitter and renewed accusations of stylistic plagiarism.
The Twitter account of @AZEALIABANKS returned a message saying that it was suspended with a link to the service’s conditions, which lists “abusive tweets and behavior” as a reason for temporary removal.
The New York artist has been long been a controversial and prolific presence on Twitter, attacking fellow rappers — notably Iggy Azalea — and once urging the burning down of homes of ancestors of slave traders.
But she appeared to cross a line recently when she used epithets related to Muslims to attack Zayn, whom she accused of copying her style.
Banks, who is African American, at one point boasted that the US military would kill the family of Zayn Malik, a Briton who is partially of Pakistani descent and who has gone solely by his first name since leaving the boy band.
Banks on Wednesday stopped short of an apology but said she was angered that Zayn would not engage with her on Twitter and renewed accusations of stylistic plagiarism.
