Azealia Banks defends homophobic insult on plane after allegedly calling air steward a 'f****t'

Azealia Banks has defended herself after footage emerged appearing to show the rapper shouting a homophobic insult at an air steward.

TMZ published a video reportedly showing Banks having an argument with a flight attendant on a Delta Air Lines plane from New York to Los Angeles.

In the video Banks can be seen aggressively trying to get her bag back from the steward, before appearing to call him a ‘f*****g f****t’.

Watch the outburst below. Warning - the video contains language that some may find offensive:

Eyewitnesses told TMZ the altercation began after a French couple were blocking Banks’ way to the exit once the plane had landed at LAX. When she tried to move past the couple, the man allegedly put his hand out in front of Banks, which angered her.

The flight attendant then reportedly intervened, taking the bag off Banks - which the video shows. According to TMZ, another Delta crew member, possibly a co-pilot, then came out to try and diffuse the situation and told Banks the police are on their way.

Immediately after the video emerged, Banks changed her Twitter account to private. She has now re-opened it and tried to defend her actions in a series of tweets:

Brian Kruse, a spokesperson for Delta Air Lines told the Independent: “We are aware of the situation and are looking into it.”

Banks has previously defended her use of the word “f****t”, telling Sirius XM radio: it’s not “a thing about a guy being gay. It was always just a man who hates women. You can be gay or straight. You can be a straight f****t…F****ts are men who want to bring women down, f**k with their heads, control them.”