Tue Jul 01 02:20:00 UTC 2025: ## Azealia Banks Pulls Out of UK Festivals, Claims Pressure to Make Pro-Palestinian Statements
**London, UK** – Controversial rapper Azealia Banks has canceled her scheduled performances at two upcoming U.K. music festivals, Maiden Voyage in London and Boomtown Festival in Hampshire, alleging that organizers pressured her to make pro-Palestinian statements on stage.
In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) earlier this week, Banks claimed that festival promoters threatened to remove her from the lineup if she refused to voice support for Palestine during her performances. She stated she wouldn’t be forced to make the political statements and was tired of dealing with threats.
“They’re both basically trying to extort me – by insinuating that I need to say I support Palestine or they will drop me from the gig BUT I would much rather drop them and not associate with anything that has cheap group think b——- attached to it,” Banks wrote. She also accused some in the music industry of “thinly veiled racism and overt antisemitism.”
Banks clarified that her issue was not with the Palestinian people themselves, but with what she termed “dumb a– slogans and performative b——-.” She criticized those expressing outrage over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, accusing them of hypocrisy.
Boomtown Festival has issued a statement disputing Banks’ claims that they attempted to dictate her personal views. “For clarity, Boomtown does not and will never dictate the personal views and beliefs of performers,” a festival spokesperson said, confirming that Banks had withdrawn from the lineup.
Maiden Voyage Festival has also confirmed Banks’ withdrawal from the event, though they did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the allegations.
The cancellation has sparked debate online, with some supporting Banks’ right to express her own views and others criticizing her stance.
First Piper 