Azealia Banks was a no-show at a final status hearing on Tuesday ahead of a May 5 bench trial to determine how much she owes her former manager, Jeff Kwatinetz, after a court found her liable for stalking, defamation, and civil extortion, among other claims.
Los Angeles County Judge Brock T. Hammond signaled that the trial, which may last only one day, will proceed with or without Banks’ participation, though he asked Kwatinetz’s lawyer to send the “212” artist notice. During the Tuesday hearing, the lawyers said Kwatinetz and his model-actress wife, Natalie Loren Kwatinetz, plan to testify in person.
Kwatinetz first sued Banks in 2020, dismissed the case amid what he described as extensive negotiations, and then filed a new lawsuit in September 2021, asserting largely the same claims for stalking, defamation, contract interference, and civil extortion. He alleged that Banks’ 2014 album, Broke With Expensive Taste, was a financial failure because she refused to promote it and engaged in what he called “self-defeating acts.” He claimed she further launched a “terrifying” smear campaign against him, threatening his family, posting photos of herself outside his Los Angeles home, and inciting her fans. He said she also falsely accused him of running a Ponzi scheme and of involvement in the death of his former girlfriend, the actress Brittany Murphy.
On Nov. 18, 2021, Banks filed a cross-complaint alleging breach of contract, fraud, and negligence. She claimed Kwatinetz posed as a romantic partner to take financial advantage of her. Kwatinetz later amended his complaint to add a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress.
On July 25, 2023, Banks arrived two hours late to her first and only deposition. Under oath, she testified that she knew the scheduled time but was delayed because she was in her hotel room “straight-ironing [her] beautiful wig,” according to a court filing. A court filing said she then refused to answer relevant questions, committed perjury, insulted opposing counsel, and ended the deposition prematurely against the advice of her own lawyer.
In September, Judge Hammond found Banks in default, citing “willful evasion” of a follow-up deposition date and “willful disobedience of a court order.” The ruling awarded Kwatinetz a victory on his claims and dismissed Banks’ cross-complaint. In an order issued Jan. 13, the court set a bench trial on damages, concluding that Banks was liable for stalking, defamation, and civil extortion, among other claims.
Banks did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. Lawyers for Kwatinetz declined to comment after the hearing.
In a recent trial brief, Kwatinetz’s lawyers wrote that Banks “has generated more publicity for her online feuds and reckless antics than for her music” over the past two decades.
“She has been banned from airlines, suspended from X (formerly Twitter), and removed from various music festivals for her homophobic and racist tirades. She has been arrested for slashing her sister’s neck with a box cutter and biting the breast of a security guard outside a nightclub. And for the last six years, she has engaged in a coordinated and sustained campaign to harass, defame, extort, and stalk her former talent manager,” the brief states.
Last week, Banks posted messages on X disparaging several groups, including Muslim people, and expressing support for President Trump. “At this point theres no Denying Trump is the best president in American History. Nobody even compares. I dont want to hear any soft tiddy bullshit trump is the man,” she wrote.
