Rapper Azealia Banks sparks fury in Thailand over transphobic rant about Blackpink’s Lisa
Banks’ offensive social media meltdown exploded into a racially-charged online battle with the K-pop star’s Thai supporters
A social media firestorm has erupted in Thailand after American rapper Azealia Banks directed transphobic slurs at K-pop sensation Lalisa Manobal – better known as Lisa of Blackpink – triggering a fierce backlash from her Thai fans that spiralled into a racially charged online battle.
The controversy began on Tuesday, the day after Lisa’s appearance at the Met Gala in New York, where she walked the blue carpet in a Louis Vuitton lingerie-inspired bodysuit. Banks responded to a photo of the Thai-born singer with a post on X, formerly Twitter, calling Lisa a “ladyboy” – a slur often directed at transgender women in Southeast Asia – and declaring: “Lisa is a man. I’m not walking that comment back.”
She followed up with a series of similarly transphobic posts, including references to a separate controversy over Lisa’s outfit, which some speculated featured the face of US civil rights icon Rosa Parks.
Although the outfit’s designer later clarified that the portraits depicted people from his personal life, not historical figures, Banks claimed the image had been strategically placed to provoke liberal outrage – describing it in a lengthy post as part of a media “psyop”. Her remarks, widely condemned as transphobic and racially inflammatory, added fuel to the backlash.
Banks, a hitmaker with a string of major rap awards to her name, is known as much for her musical output as for her history of provocative and often offensive social media posts – including those targeting the transgender community.
But this time, her remarks struck a nerve with Thailand’s online K-pop fandom, known for swiftly rallying to the defence of their idols.
By the weekend, hashtags criticising Banks had gone viral across Thai-language social media platforms. Fans began sharing screenshots of past comments by Banks disparaging the LGBTQ community, calling her out for what they described as a pattern of bigoted behaviour.
“Don’t mess with the Thai internet. The message has reached Banks,” read one popular post on X, summarising the mood among Lisa’s supporters.
Some users, however, retaliated with racist imagery, posting memes comparing Banks to gorillas and chimpanzees – a move widely condemned by others online, even amid their support for Lisa.
Banks responded with further provocation, mocking Thai culture, cuisine and public toilets, before accusing the K-pop industry of appropriating black culture with its sanitised take on hip-hop.
On Thursday, she posted again, appearing to acknowledge the backlash, with a remark widely criticised as racist and condescending towards Thais: “Why did I wake the rice farmers up ugh they are so third world and annoying.”
Born in rural Thailand, Lisa shot to fame as part of Blackpink, the South Korean girl group credited with bringing K-pop to new international heights. In recent years, she has pursued solo projects, headlined major music festivals such as Coachella and appeared in the HBO series The White Lotus.
