Azealia Banks could be prosecuted if she continues to make insulting remarks about Irish people, a barrister has suggested.
The rapper, 27, walked off an Aer Lingus flight from Gatwick to Dublin before take-off earlier this week because of an apparent spat with crew on board.
Banks chose to disembark the plane before take-off after a verbal altercation took place between her and airline crew when she told them not to stare at her as she was being asked questions.
She then posted a series of Instagram stories about the exchange in which she called one member of the airline crew an “ugly Irish b*****”.
The New York rapper claimed she had been “treated like a wild animal” and denied that she had told the stewardess she would “sort her out”, saying that she does “not use that kind of slang”.
She was later accused of using the phrase “inbred leprechauns” to refer to Irish people on Twitter in a post that has since been deleted.
Barrister Tomas McGarvey tweeted that the singer could be prosecuted under the 2003 Communications Act for her remarks.
“Hi #azeliabanks in light of your recent comments on #instagram about Irish women & Irish people generally, perhaps I can introduce you to the #CommunicationsAct2003 (s127) before you land in England. If you keep up the insults, you may end up with first-hand experience,” he said.
He included a screenshot of section 127 of the Communications Act 2003. Under the act, a person is guilty of an offence if he or she sends by means of a public electronic communications network a message or other matter that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing nature.
Mr McGarvey suggested Banks could be prosecuted for two tweets about Irish people suggesting they “continue to inbreed” and referencing the Great Famine of Ireland of 1845 to 1849 in a post in which she apparently said: “don’t you all have a famine to go die in?”
