The internet basically exploded in July 2025. You probably saw it. One minute everyone is talking about Conor McGregor’s potential run for the Irish presidency, and the next, American rapper Azealia Banks is dropping a nuclear bomb on X (formerly Twitter). She didn’t just make a vague claim. She posted actual screenshots of what appeared to be Conor McGregor’s private messages, including some very explicit photos that the world immediately labeled the "Conor McGregor dick picks."
It was messy. Chaotic. Honestly, it was peak McGregor.
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But behind the viral memes and the "potato farmer" insults Banks hurled at the UFC star, there’s a much weirder, more complicated story about years of private DMs and a legal landscape that’s getting harder for celebrities to navigate.
The Night the Photos Went Public
So, here is how it actually went down. On July 14, 2025—which happens to be McGregor’s 37th birthday—Azealia Banks decided to share a series of "receipts." She claimed that McGregor had been sending her unsolicited nudes. One of the photos showed a naked man, allegedly the former champ, holding weights with the caption "Lifting weights."
Another screenshot was way more ominous. It showed a message saying, "Don't be a rat cos all rats get caught." Banks was fuming. She accused him of sexual harassment and intimidation, basically asking how he could think he could run for office in Ireland while sending "crooked" photos to rappers.
The reaction was split. Half the people on Reddit and X were making fun of the "lighting" and the "angles," while the other half were genuinely concerned about the legal implications of sending unsolicited explicit images. In Ireland, that’s not just a social faux pas. It can be a crime.
Was It Actually Unsolicited?
This is where the story gets kinda murky. Banks initially phrased it like he just popped into her DMs out of nowhere with the "goods." But later that same day, she posted something that flipped the script. She wrote: "No me and Conor McGregor have been sending each other unsolicited nudes since 2016. LOL."
Wait, what?
If they’d been exchanging photos for nearly a decade, the "unsolicited" part starts to feel like a stretch. It paints a picture of a bizarre, long-distance digital relationship between two of the most volatile personalities in entertainment. Some fans think Banks leaked the photos because she was bored or looking for clout, while others believe McGregor actually did threaten her, which triggered the leak.
McGregor, for his part, stayed mostly silent. Well, "Conor silent." He didn’t deny the photos existed. Instead, he posted a tweet about Irish politics and told fans, "Don't let them distract you with my G C while they rob our country blind!"
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Most people took "G C" to mean "Great Cock." He basically confirmed it was him without saying the words.
A Pattern of "Deleted" Behavior
The Conor McGregor dick picks incident wasn't an isolated case of social media weirdness. If you follow the Mac at all, you know his "post and delete" game is legendary.
- The Yacht Video (2022): Remember the video where he was lying back on his yacht and it looked like he was receiving oral sex? He deleted that one fast, but not before it was ripped and shared a million times.
- The Poirier Threats: After losing to Dustin Poirier, he posted photos of Dustin’s daughter and made "gonezo" threats. Again, deleted within minutes.
- The Courtroom Rants: In late 2024, during his civil trial with Nikita Hand, he went on a tear against the Irish court system, calling it a "kangaroo court." Deleted.
He seems to operate on a "tweet first, think after the whiskey wears off" basis. But in 2025, the stakes got higher. With an 18-month UFC ban for "whereabouts failures" (missing drug tests) starting in late 2024, McGregor has had way too much free time. And as we've seen, a bored Conor McGregor is usually a social media disaster waiting to happen.
The Reality of Celeb "Leaks" in 2026
We have to talk about the E-E-A-T side of this—the actual expertise on how these scandals work now. In the current digital climate, there is almost no such thing as a "private" DM if you are a high-profile athlete.
Legal experts, like those who followed the 2024 Nikita Hand civil case where McGregor was found liable for assault, point out that digital footprints are permanent. Even if you "unsent" a message on Instagram or deleted a tweet, someone has a screenshot. Banks proved that.
There's also the "revenge porn" and "cyber-harassment" angle. In many jurisdictions, sharing someone's private nudes without consent—even if they sent them to you—is a legal minefield. However, because McGregor is... well, McGregor... he tends to lean into the notoriety rather than filing lawsuits. He’s built a brand on being the "bad guy."
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Why the Scandal Didn't Kill His Career
Honestly? It's because we're desensitized.
By the time the Azealia Banks leak happened, McGregor had already been through:
- Multiple sexual assault allegations (which he denies).
- A civil court ruling for damages in Ireland.
- Countless bar fights and bus-smashing incidents.
A few "crooked" photos sent to a rapper felt like a Tuesday. His fanbase is incredibly loyal, or at least incredibly entertained by the train wreck. They don't look for a role model; they look for a spectacle.
What You Should Actually Do With This Information
If you're reading this because you're worried about your own digital privacy—or you're just a fan trying to keep up—here are the real takeaways from the McGregor saga.
Assume nothing is private. If you send a photo, you are handing over a weapon that can be used against you years later. Azealia Banks sat on those "receipts" for years before dropping them when it suited her.
Consent is a two-way street. Even if there was a history of exchanging photos (as Banks admitted), sending something "unsolicited" in a moment of anger or intoxication can lead to harassment claims.
Watch the "Post and Delete" habit. In 2026, AI scrapers and archive bots catch everything the second it goes live. Deleting a post 60 seconds later is useless.
The McGregor dick picks weren't a career-ender for him because he doesn't care about being "canceled." He cares about staying relevant. But for anyone else, this kind of digital trail is a life-ruiner.
If you want to stay updated on McGregor’s actual return to the Octagon—which is currently slated for March 20, 2026, after his suspension ends—keep an eye on official UFC channels rather than his midnight X rants. You’ll get a lot more facts and a lot fewer "surprises."
Check the official UFC rankings to see where the lightweight division stands while McGregor remains on the sidelines. Or, if you're interested in the legal side of celebrity scandals, look into the updated 2025 Irish Harassment and Cyber-bullying laws to see how these DM exchanges are being handled in court.