Azealia Banks’ Warrant: Judge Issues Warrant Rapper’s Arrest After Court No-Show

Rapper Azealia Banks was issued a bench warrant from a New York City judge after she failed to show up to a court hearing this Monday.

The hearing was to address the incident at a Manhattan nightclub in December 2015 in which Banks was accused of spitting at and biting a female bouncer for throwing her out of the bar. Banks allegedly bit down on the bouncer’s breast after staff at the club failed to recognize her.

The court hearing was scheduled for Monday, and according to Banks’ attorney, her absence was due to her being out of the country. A note from the rapper states that she could be “back tomorrow if the court needs it.”

Judge Kathryn Paek was unimpressed, and issued a bench warrant for her arrest.

Banks’ private attorney has since requested to be relinquished from her case, and now the rapper has been appointed with a new, free court-appointed lawyer to speak on her behalf.

Azealia Banks’ Warrant

This is not the first time the singer-songwriter has found herself in troubled waters with the court system. She was to appear in court in September 2016, but was a no-show due to reportedly missing her flight from New York City to Los Angeles. She rescheduled the court date for November 2016, after the judge warned her of jail time if she failed to appear at the hearing.

In the meantime, Banks has also been making headlines for all the wrong reasons. She was in a social media squabble with singer Rihanna in January 2017 over President Trump’s controversial Muslim-ban. She also filed a lawsuit against Russell Crowe in October 2016, accusing him of spitting at her and calling her derogatory names at a Beverly Hills party. Around Christmas of 2016, the rapper was thrown out of a Los Angeles District Attorney’s office.