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Culture > Entertainment

Azealia Banks Is Claiming Kesha Lied About Being Raped by Dr. Luke & This Is the Last Thing We Need Right Now

Kait Wilbur

Have you been angry beyond belief this week about people not believing survivors of sexual assault? I hate to say that it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

Rapper Azealia Banks went on a Twitter tirade against Kesha, who famously revealed that music producer Dr. Luke sexually assaulted her. Banks claims that Kesha lied about the assault to get out of a contract, citing her as “a white woman using her inherent ‘victimhood’ to con her way through life.”

Banks, who has worked with Dr. Luke before, continued to defend Dr. Luke, saying that she “would NEVER collab with a rapist.” She also called Kesha’s supporters hypocritical, saying that they would still listen to Dr. Luke’s music despite being outspoken against his actions.

Despite her accusations, she goes on to raise some valid points about the way that the victim narratives of white women are prioritized over those of black women, citing the handling of her own assault a few months ago as an example. She also takes white feminism to task, acknowledging that the media often focuses on white, female victims over the “countless non-famous poor black trans women that get murdered every day (sic).”

This isn’t the first time Azealia Banks has used Twitter to say something controversial. In 2013, she used homophobic slurs against gossip blogger Perez Hilton and “Harlem Shake” musician Baauer. And in 2015 she called the LGBTQ+ community “gay white KKKs.”

I understand Banks’ frustration at the incongruities between white and black women’s media portrayal, but I don’t see why that is a reason to throw a survivor under the bus, considering less than 10 percent of sexual assault reports are false, and only 63 percent are reported altogether, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. Being an advocate for yourself doesn’t mean crushing others with valid perspectives.

Survivors, we believe you. Thank you for being brave enough to come forward.

Kait Wilbur is an aggressively optimistic individual obsessed with sitcoms, indie music, and pop culture in general. She hails from Manito, a rural wasteland in Illinois so small and devoid of life that she took up writing to amuse herself. Kait goes to Butler University to prepare for a career in advertising, but all she really wants to do is talk about TV for a living. You can find her at any given moment with her earbuds in pretending to do homework but actually looking at surrealist memes.