Azealia Banks Fires Back at Manager Jeff Kwatinetz’s Libel Lawsuit

More than a year after she was first sued for stalking and defamation by her ex-manager, Azealia Banks has responded with a cross-complaint accusing the Prospect Park label boss of posing as a “romantic suitor” to “steal” from her.

In new paperwork obtained by Rolling Stone, Banks says Jeff Kwatinetz was 49 years old and single when he presided over an “egregious” deal making process in 2014 that gave his company a 15-year license to her album Broke with Expensive Taste.

It was an album she already owned that had been produced and paid for by another record company, according to her recent filing in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Banks is counter-suing Kwatinetz with claims of breach of contract and fraud. She alleges he and his company “failed for years” to pay her her fair share of the revenues from her album.

“[Kwatinetz] attempted to control and manipulate Banks so he could eventually steal from her, by charming the 23-year-old from Harlem and attempting to convince her that he loved her,” her filing states. “He would repeatedly tell her in e-mails that he loved her, had sleepovers with her and sent her gifts.”

For his part, Kwatinetz first sued Banks for defamation and stalking on Sept. 24, 2020 but moved to dismiss the civil action in March. He filed a follow-up complaint Sept. 20, 2021 with similar causes of defamation, trade libel and stalking. He said it threatened his wife and young child.

The next court hearing in the case is set for Feb. 1. We will surely find out eventually who is in the right or who deserves to be blamed for this continuous back and forth that has been happening for more than an year.