Superstar Beyonce said she would remove a lyric from a song on her new album “Renaissance” after the singer faced backlash for its “ableist” and “offensive” language.
The 40-year-old’s representative confirmed the “Halo” hitmaker would release a revised version of her song, “Heated,” after the singer faced criticism for the use of a line that includes the word “spaz,” the Associated Press reported.
“The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced,” a statement read.
The line in question read, “Spazzin’ on that a**, spazz on that a**,” Variety noted. The word is considered a derogatory reference for disabled people, short for “spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy,” AP noted.
Beyoncé is removing an offensive term for disabled people from a new song on her record "Renaissance," just weeks after rapper Lizzo also changed lyrics to remove the same word. https://t.co/UjiMJeENdY
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 1, 2022
One of the strongest lines of attack came from The Guardian writer and disability advocate Hannah Diviney, who slammed the pop star, writing that hearing the word “felt like a slap in the face to me, the disabled community & the progress we tried to make with Lizzo.”
The writer compared the use of “ableist” language to the same one Lizzo used in her recent song, “Grrrls,” which also faced a backlash. Lizzo later apologized for using the “ableist slur” and said she had changed the lyric, as The Daily Wire previously reported.
“It’s been brought to my attention that there is a harmful word in my new song ‘GRRRLS,'” the 34-year-old singer tweeted. “Let me make one thing clear: I never want to promote derogatory language.”
“As a fat Black woman in America, I’ve had many hurtful words used against me so I overstand the power words can have (whether intentionally or in my case, unintentionally),” she added. “I’m proud to say there’s a new version of GRRRLS with a lyric change. This is the result of me listening and taking action. As an influential artist I’m dedicated to being part of the change I’ve been waiting to see in the world.”
The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh tweeted in response to the lyric change, “The song is full of profanity and violence. She threatens to cut a man’s penis off and assault random strangers. But the part that offends people is when she uses the word ‘spaz.’ We are the dumbest society in the history of the world.”
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