Azealia Banks has been booted from the line-up of Milkshake Festival, a Dutch music festival, due to anti-LGBTQ+ remarks.
The rapper who has made homophobic remarks in the past, was due to headline the festival, however the news was met with immediate backlash by fans of the festival.
Many stated that they wanted the organisers to reconsider since Banks has spoken negatively about the LGBTQ+ community.
While Banks identifies as bisexual, she been accused of both homophobia and transphobia. In 2015, she called a flight attendant a “fucking fa**ot” during what is described as an “in-flight meltdown”. Later that month, Banks posted what Billboard called a “Twitter tirade” against the LGBT community when she tweeted, “LGBT community are like the gay white KKK’s. Get some pink hoods and unicorns and rally down rodeo drive… If I am to be a part of an LGBT community I want to be in it with people who aren’t so weak or so easily moved ya know.”
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It’s rather more difficult to keep track of Banks’ opinion on trans people. In 2016, she shared that one of her siblings was a trans man and congratulated him on his top surgery. In 2021, she said that trans women are “just gay boys on hormones using male aggression to force their ways into women’s spaces”, and argued in 2023 that state funding for other healthcare issues should take precedence over funding for gender-affirming surgery, which she compared to cosmetic surgery. In 2025, she expressed support for trans people and criticised J. K. Rowling for her “paranoid” views on trans women.
In a initial statement on on their Instagram, Milkshake said: “Azealia Banks will not be performing at Milkshake Festival 2025. It is clear to us that we made a mistake and that we have overlooked essential information.
“Over the last thirteen years, our mission has always been to unite people. We try to stimulate looking past our differences and to create a place that celebrates the uniqueness of every individual. Anybody who has love in their hearts is welcome at Milkshake. We are, and always will be, for all who love.
“Nevertheless, we strive to be a place where everyone, and especially the most vulnerable and historically marginalised among us, feel free to express themselves.”
