Closure In Moscow Apologise For Racially Offensive Tweet

Lead vocalist of Melbourne psychedelic rockers Closure In Moscow, Christopher de Cinque, has issued a formal apology for what he deems “a regrettable fuck up” in which he used a racially offensive term during a Twitter clash with Azealia Banks.

The exchange of words began when the Melbourne outfit weighed in on Bank’s beef with US rappers Kendrick Lamar and Lupe Fiasco, who she implied Australia was only interested in because of “cultural fetishism”. “In australia.. those are white people…. its cultural fetishism… they only like you because your black… not because ur good,” Banks tweeted at Fiasco.

“[Azealia Banks] calls out Kendrick on dumb shit then writes off Australia as a place of nothing but White cultural fetishists… DUMB CUNT,” wrote Closure In Moscow in response. Banks fired back by writing, “Look at what you guys do to the aboriginal people there!!! are u kidding?!?”

According to Rip It Up, the band then replied, with a since deleted tweet, “*Musician use expert opinion to make broad stroke statements about complex social issues* Brb, gotta marginalize another abo.” It is this tweet for which de Cinque has since apologised, labelling it their own “dumb cunt move”.

“I feel really fucking horrible and incredibly dumb for putting something out into the world like that without stopping to consider it being hurtful, or choosing a more appropriate channel to express something that needs more thought than that hasty shit,” wrote de Cinque in an official apology.

He explains that he was frustrated with Bank’s comments on Australia, which she has previously labelled “a notoriously racist country”, and felt they were a “a gross oversimplification” of some very serious issues, all in the name of having “a dig at Lupe Fiasco.”

“I tried to call someone out for these things through the very same means I was calling out and I failed miserably,” he writes. “That frustration shouldn’t have been expressed in the form of a bite-sized, satirical jab that was not only insensitive but could also be easily misconstrued as bigotry.”

“I’d like to think that people who are familiar with this band see that our credo is to elevate human consciousness by trying to provoke thought and subversively challenging dogmas and prejudices, so I feel pretty ashamed knowing that our first exposure to some people indicated the contrary because I didn’t take a second to think that what came out was something horrible.”

“I’m sorry to anyone that I hurt or upset, becoming a unified nation where equality is valued and upheld above all else is something I desperately hope for and in light of this, it’s become all the more obvious to me that it will shift in that direction with the output of compassion and positivity, not insensitivity and sarcastic ire.”

Read the full apology here.

https://twitter.com/AZEALIABANKS/status/553781543769239552

https://twitter.com/AZEALIABANKS/status/546267683122339840

@AZEALIABANKS calls out Kendrick on dumb shit then writes off Australia as a place of nothing but White cultural fetishists… DUMB CUNT

— Closure In Moscow (@ClosureInMoscow) January 11, 2015

https://twitter.com/AZEALIABANKS/status/554086060372672512

I'm terribly sorry for using a term that is racially offensive to our indigenous people, that is not something we want to perpetuate

— Closure In Moscow (@ClosureInMoscow) January 12, 2015

@urthboy That is a horrible character limit induced, full stop abbreviation fail on our part. Our sincerest apologies to anyone offended.

— Closure In Moscow (@ClosureInMoscow) January 11, 2015

We pulled a dumb cunt move, please don't let that detract from the danger of generslizing dumb cunts… #140charactersocialcritiquesworkgood

— Closure In Moscow (@ClosureInMoscow) January 11, 2015

https://twitter.com/BriggsGE/status/554184118141874176