Azealia Banks
"212" rapper Azealia Banks, pictured July 25, 2015, apologized to former Alaska governor Sarah Palin Tuesday after she was duped by a hoax a day earlier. Getty Images

Rapper Azealia Banks issued a mea culpa to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin Tuesday after she was duped by an article from a satirical website the day prior. In the beginning of her open letter, Banks praised Palin but then mocked her at the end.

“I hope this message reaches you in good spirits and in good health,” the Harlem native began the note. “I want to start this letter off by telling you that I actually really like you.”

Banks, 24, the compared herself to the Republican politician. “You’re very passionate about the things you believe in, super determined and most certainly aware of who you are and where you stand in this world, as a parent, as a politician but most importantly, as a woman,” she said.

She then addressed the part which started her attack against Palin in the first place. The article quoted Palin as saying, “Even the French understand that slavery wasn’t our fault because the negroes [sic] liked it.”

Banks said she was sorry for her subsequent outburst, where she essentially said Palin should be raped. “Now since learning that the article was not published officially, I sincerely apologize for any emotional distress or reputational [sic] scarring I may have caused you,” the rapper wrote.

She started to backtrack a little when she said it was all just a joke. “In my honest defense, I was completely kidding,” Banks claimed. “I happen to have a really crass, New-York-City sense of humor and regularly make silly jokes in attempts make light of situations which make me uncomfortable.”

When Palin wrote her initial rebuttal, she referred to Banks as a “female rapper,” something that the “212” star took issue with. “What you wanted to say was, ‘Hey little stereotypical black thing!’” She also asserted Bristol Palin wouldn’t be unwed with two children if she listened to her music.

At the time this article was written, Palin had not issued a new response.

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