Russell Crowe allegedly carried rapper Azealia Banks out of his hotel suite after she reportedly threatened to stab the actor in the throat.
The 25-year-old musician hit headlines when she allegedly posted on her Facebook page that she had been assaulted by the Australian actor and attacked with racial slurs including being called a “n****r”.
However, sources have told TMZ.com that the situation actually unfolded very differently, and that it was Russell who was the victim of the attack.
According to the website, Azealia was taken to Russell’s room at a hotel in Beverly Hills by rapper RZA, who had been invited to dinner by the Gladiator star.
While things began well, they are said to have taken a turn for the worse when Azealia reportedly criticized the music Russell put on, laughing at the tunes and calling the actor and one of his guests “boring white men”.
The outlet cites “multiple witnesses” as saying that when a female guest stepped forward to come to Russell’s defense and encourage Azealia to cease her antagonistic remarks, the 212 star launched into another attack on the actor and the unidentified woman.
Sources told TMZ.com that Azealia said: “You would love it if I broke my glass, stabbed you guys in the throat, and blood would squirt everywhere like some real Tarantino s**t.”
She is said to have peppered her speech with “n****r”, before apparently reaching for her glass. At this point, Russell is said to have taken the situation into his own hands, grabbing the musician in a “bear hug” and “carrying her out of the suite”. He then reportedly called the in-house hotel security guards to remove Azealia from the premises.
An investigation followed, TMZ report, during which at least four of the guests and witnesses at the dinner gave statements describing Azealia’s behavior as “erratic”.
Azealia posted a different breakdown of events when she told her friends on Facebook that Russell had choked her, thrown her out, spit on her and called her a “n****r”.
However, TMZ allege that even RZA, who recently signed Azealia to his record label, is aware that it was she who used the racial slur – not Russell.
A spokesperson for Russell declined to comment on the situation when contacted by Billboard.com, while Azealia’s original post on Facebook has now been deleted.
