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Azealia Banks threatened with bench warrant after missing court appearance

Written by . Published: September 08 2016

Rapper Azealia Banks was threatened with a bench warrant by a judge after she failed to appear in court on Wednesday (07Sep16).


The 212 star was due to attend Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on Wednesday on charges of assault, attempted assault and disorderly conduct for allegedly punching and biting a security guard outside a club in the city in December (15).


However, when Banks failed to appear Judge Kathryn Paek told her lawyer Stacey Richman she would issue a bench warrant for the star if she was absent at the next hearing on 30 September (16), according to the New York Daily News.


Richman blamed the no-show on a travel issue as Banks had been planning to fly in to New York from Los Angeles, where she had been working, the night before (06Sep16).


"She missed her flight," Richman told the judge. "She was supposed to take the red eye in last night."


According to the website, Banks has missed other hearings but was excused due to health reasons.


During one appearance in March (16), the rapper swore at photographers and hit a camera as she left the court house. On that occasion, she reportedly arrived late due to traffic, wore inappropriate clothes and when asked if she had anything to say, she promoted her new music, saying, "Download Slay-Z Mixtape - link on my Twitter and my Instagram".


The 25-year-old was arrested in December following her altercation with the female bouncer at the Up&Down club, which she had been thrown out of after allegedly spitting. Police officers were called to the venue and she was taken to the Sixth Precinct police station.


She has made no mention of the court hearing on her remaining social media pages. She was recently blocked from Twitter after launching into a racist and homophobic rant about pop star Zayn Malik.

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