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RZA has responded publicly to musician Azealia Banks' claims that she was assaulted by actor Russell Crowe at a Beverly Hills hotel and that none of the men in the room, which included RZA, intervened. TMZ reported that last Saturday, Crowe had invited a handful of people to dinner at his room at a Beverly Hills hotel. RZA, who Crowe had invited, brought Azealia Banks as his guest. Witnesses told TMZ that Banks soon began insulting Crowe, then threatened to smash a glass and use the shards to cut guests. Crowe grabbed Banks in a bear hug when she picked up said glass, forced her out of his suite, and had hotel security take her away. Banks, however, posted to Facebook that Crowe had assaulted her and called her the n-word, and that she felt terrible because none of the men stopped his attack. That post has since been deleted, though she made a follow-up post indicating she had proof that would substantiate her version of events. She also filed a battery report against Crowe with the Beverly Hills Police Department on Sunday, the day after the alleged attack, according to TMZ.
RZA posted to Facebook today his version of events, and the post definitely does not back up Banks' claim that she was assaulted. RZA wrote that he had agreed to help her out with her career, though noted that despite Banks' earlier claims on social media, he had never signed an official deal with her. He said that he invited her to meet him at the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Saturday, and then asked Crowe for permission to bring her to his suite. Crowe obliged, and so the two both showed up. That's when RZA said chaos ensued.
Before the night is over Azealia is insulting half the room she becomes loud and obnoxious. There was nothing funny about her behavior. I felt a little embarrassed because she was my guest. Still verbal abuse can be tolerated but when it goes physical... Azealia threaten to cut a girl in the face with a glass, then actually grabs a glass and physically attacks for no logical reason. Russell blocked the attack and expelled her from the suite.
Seeing is believing and I saw her behave as an obnoxious erratic individual and in the circles I frequent this was unprecedented. I was totally puzzles by her and thought maybe meds or booze or something had her zoned out. Nevertheless I made sure she got home safe.
My art, talent and success speaks for it self and Azealia's recent slander of me and self victimization reflect's the personality of the person that was in that room that night. I have a wife, daughters, sisters and females on my staff so I protect women everyday. I pray none of them ever behave the way I witnessed Azealia Banks behaved that night.
Banks recently conducted an interview with the Evening Standard, which came out on Monday. She met a reporter at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and discussed her past outbursts on social media. She said her own mother chastised her after a Twitter rant against musician Zayn Malik, formerly of One Direction. She called the British-Pakistani singer a "curry-scented bitch" and a "sand n—r," which prompted Twitter to suspend her account.
"They basically cut off my connection to my fans. That's my livelihood. Like I can't express myself unless it's put through this white-normative filter?" she told the Evening Standard.
She also said, however, that lately, she's realized that "you're not keeping it real by being a crazy girl. You don't lose anything by keeping your mouth shut. So maybe it's time to stop being a crazy girl."
