According To RZA, There Is One Thing He Witnessed Russell Crowe Do To Azealia Banks
The Azealia Banks versus RZA saga reignited this week when the Harlem femcee flipped a written middle finger to the Wu-Tang Clan icon via Snapchat.
She still deems his recollection of her 2016 spat with actor Russell Crowe a lie while RZA holds that it was Azealia who acted out that evening. But there is something he claims to have seen Crowe do that he and the Ice Princess can agree on.
RZA dropped by The Breakfast Club morning radio show, where he and producer Mathematics talked all things Wu-Tang Clan. Well, not all things Wu-Tang. The conversation shifted to his new film, Love Beats Rhymes, and professional relationship with the "Big Big Beat" rapper.
Explaining that he was a willing participant in cosigning Azealia, RZA said that despite her history of controversies, he appreciated her work ethic when they collaborated. She’s a “natural talent,” he said, and the night at Crowe’s party happened to be a one-off situation.
However, when Charlamagne Tha God asked whether or not her accusations against Crowe, in which Azealia said that he choked her, spit on her and called her the N-word, were true, RZA only supported one of those claims.
“Look, he spit at her,” he expressed. “I saw that. He didn’t spit on her.”
How he seemingly recalls the scene is that Crowe spit with the intent to express an insulting way about how he felt about her, not for the spit to actually land on her. RZA said that Crowe did apologize to him when Charlamagne asked if he confronted the film actor —especially considering that he was a white man spitting at a Black woman.
“The night was crazy, bro,” RZA finished. “I don’t want to relive it. It was crazy and it was super-duper awkward.”
To Azealia’s dismay, she hasn’t received an apology from either Crowe or RZA as she requested in her sneering message to the “You Can’t Stop Me Now” emcee. At the very least, however, it seems he’s not holding on to any bad blood with her in the meantime.
See him address the whole situation around the 29:54 mark below.