Beyonce is pulling a Lizzo by updating the lyrics to one of her songs following harsh backlash for repeatedly using an ableist slur on the track “Heated.” The song, which is lifted off B’s new album “Renaissance,” is gaining a lot of streams on platforms such as Spotify and YouTube, but if you’ve already heard it, you’ll soon be hearing an amended version because Beyonce’s team have revealed they are switching up the lyrics.
“The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced,” Beyonce’s team said in a statement, via Variety. On the song, Beyonce is heard singing, “Yadda, yadda, yadda / bom, bom, ka, ka / Spazzin’ on that ass, spaz on that ass / Fan me quick, girl, I need my glass.”
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In the US, the word is used when referring to someone “freaking out” or “going crazy,” but in other countries, such as the UK, the term is a derogatory word used to describe people with disabilities, particularly those suffering from cerebral palsy. Warren Kirwan, who is the Media Manager of disability equality charity Scope, denounced Beyonce’s song lyrics, saying, “It’s appalling that one of the world’s biggest stars has chosen to include this deeply offensive term.”
“Just weeks ago, Lizzo received a huge backlash from fans who felt hurt and let down after she used the same abhorrent language. Thankfully she did the right thing and re-recorded the song. It’s hard to believe that could have gone unnoticed by Beyoncé’s team.
He continued, “Words matter because they reinforce the negative attitudes disabled people face every day, and which impact every aspect of disabled people’s lives. Beyoncé has long been a champion of inclusivity and equality, so we’d urge her to remove this offensive lyric.
The controversial remark continued to gain steam on Twitter where people pondered the same question: how did Beyonce’s team not realize they would get a lot of scrutiny for using the word, and why was it given the clearance, to begin with?
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One person wrote, “Bizarre that Beyoncé chose to include an ableist slur in one of her new songs right after Lizzo learned from her mistake and took the same slur out from her song.”
Another person echoed similar words as they weighed in on the situation, tweeting, “So so disappointed that Beyoncé has used an ableist slur in Heated It’s the same one Lizzo used (& corrected very gracefully)… this was high profile enough that the same mistake shouldn’t have happened again So sick of non-disabled artists not recognizing harm in their words.”