Days after the release of her latest album, “Renaissance,” Beyoncé will change the lyrics of one of her songs, a representative for the singer said Monday, in response to an outcry from disability rights advocates who say that the pop star shouldn’t have used a word that has historically been used as a derogatory term.
In “Heated,” a dancehall-inspired song, the singer uses the words “spaz” and “spazzin'” in an energetically recited part of the song that is a throwback to freestyles at some dance events. Activists condemned the use of the word in social media posts, noting that another pop star, Lizzo, had removed the same lyrics from a song following a similar backlash in June.
“The word, which is not intentionally used in a harmful way, will be replaced,” a spokeswoman for Beyoncé 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, Australian disability writer and advocate Hannah Diviney tweeted about Lizzo’s use of the word, noting that for someone with cerebral palsy like her, spasticity referred to a ” endless painful oppression” in the 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 “this is the result of my listening and action.”
Diviney wrote in an op-ed, published in The Guardian on Monday, that his “heart sank” when he learned that Beyoncé’s new album had used the same word.
“I thought we 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 Beyoncé has gone and done the exact same thing.”
Disability rights advocates have pointed out that the word has been more commonly used as a derogatory term in the UK compared to the US. Scope, a British group that campaigns for disability equality, tweeted: “The experiences of disabled people are not fodder for song lyrics” and urged Beyoncé to follow Lizzo’s example.