Azealia Banks pulls out of Boomtown and Maiden Voyage over alleged Pro-Palestine statement pressure

Azealia Banks has withdrawn from Boomtown and Maiden Voyage claiming festival promoters have pressured her to release a statement in support of Palestine. 

The US rapper was due to perform at the London-based Maiden Voyage and Winchester's Boomtown in August, however she announced that she will no longer be appearing at either.

"So guys I am cancelling Boomtown and Maiden Voyage, Banks said in a string of posts on Twitter yesterday (June 25). "The promoters have been stressing me out for weeks trying to force me to say free Palestine and threatening to cut me from the bill because I won’t say free Palestine".

“They’re both basically trying to extort me - by insinuating that I need to say I support Palestine or they will drop me from the gig BUT I would much rather drop them and not associate with anything that has cheap group think bulls**t attached to it,” she continued.

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In a statement seen by The Standard, a spokesperson for Boomtown said: “Following her post on Twitter in the early hours of this morning, we can confirm that Azealia Banks has withdrawn from the lineup and will no longer be performing at Boomtown Festival."

In an Instagram post today (June 26), Boomtown said the team are "working on a replacement and will update everyone as soon as possible."

Maiden Voyage similarly shared the announcement via an Instagram story, writing: "Azealia Banks will no longer be performing at Maiden Voyage 2025. The replacement artist will be announced shortly."

Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, follow her on Twitter