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.”
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.
