Beyonc Will Change Passionate Lyrics After Ableist Slur Criticism

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Days after the release of her latest album, Renaissance, Beyonc will change the lyrics to one of her songs, a rep for the singer said Monday, in response to an outcry from disability rights advocates who say the pop star shouldn’t have used a word that has always been used as a pejorative slur.

In Heated, a dancehall-inspired track, the singer uses the words spaz and spazzin in an energetically recited part of the song reminiscent of freestyles at certain ballroom events. Activists have condemned the use of the word in social media posts, pointing out that another pop star, Lizzo, removed the same lyrics from a song following a similar backlash in June.

The word, not intentionally used in a harmful way, will be replaced, a Beyonc spokeswoman said in an email.

The word in question is based on spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy that causes motor impairments in the legs or arms. In June, Hannah Diviney, a writer and disability advocate from Australia, tweeted about Lizzos’ use of the word, noting that for someone with cerebral palsy like her, spasticity referred to painful tightness. endlessly in her legs, and urged the singer to do better. In response to criticism from fans and activists, Lizzo changed her song, Grrrls, and wrote in a statement that it’s the result of my listening and taking action.

Diviney wrote in an op-ed, published in The Guardian on Monday, that her heart sank when she learned Beyonc’s new album had used the same word.

I thought we had changed the music industry and started a global conversation about why ableist language, intentional or not, has no place in music, Diviney wrote. But I guess I was wrong, because now Beyonc has gone and done the exact same thing.

Disability rights advocates noted that the word was more commonly used as a pejorative term in the UK than in the US. Scope, a group in Britain that campaigns for disability equality, tweeted, Disabled people’s experiences are not fodder for song lyrics, and urged Beyonc to follow Lizzos’ lead.

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