Azealia Banks accuses Taylor Swift of copying her in ‘fun fact’ Facebook post

Banks claimed SLAY-Z is a nickname which was given to her by one of her fans in 2014
Accusations: Azealia Banks has hit out at Taylor Swift
Neilson Barnard/Getty
Emma Powell14 July 2016
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Azealia Banks has accused Taylor Swift of copying her nickname for her star-studded Bad Blood music video.

Banks claimed Swift stole the name Slay-Z for Gigi Hadid’s character as she posted a list of “fun facts” on her Facebook page following the suspension of her Twitter account.

She posted: “FUN FACT: ‘SLAY-Z’ is a nickname given to Azealia Banks by one of her fans in 2014. A play on the Z in Banks' name, and her propensity to release consistently awesome music, the nickname was lifted from her twitter account and featured as one of the characters in Taylor Swift's ‘Bad Blood’ video.

“Azealia Banks reclaimed the nickname upon the arrival of of her self-released 2016 mixtape titled ‘SLAY-Z’.”

On the release of Bad Blood in May 2015, Hadid explained that the name came from her obsession with Jay-Z and the prevelant use of the word “slay” online.

Speaking to Cosmopolitan she said: "Slay is a word that everyone is using right now in social media. I think it's a hilarious word. And I'm kind of obsessed with Beyoncé, and we wanted to do a play on Jay Z, so it actually came from Jay Z, and we made it Slay-Z. That's how we got Slay-Z."

Banks’ comment followed Calvin Harris’ explosive Twitter tirade at the Blank Space singer after it was revealed she penned his latest single, This Is What You Came For, under a pseudonym.

The Scottish DJ - who dated Swift for 15 months - told her to “focus” on her new relationship and stop trying to “bury” him like he alleged she attempted with Katy Perry.

He tweeted: “I figure if you're happy in your new relationship you should focus on that instead of trying to tear your ex bf down for something to do.

“I know you're off tour and you need someone new to try and bury like Katy ETC but I'm not that guy, sorry. I won't allow it."

Swift was trolled by Harris' fans who inundated her Instagram account with snake emojis and kickstarted the hashtag: #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty.

Swift is yet to respond to Banks and Harris' comments.

Taylor Swift's Fourth of July celebrations 2016

1/7

Follow @StandardShowbiz for more entertainment news.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in