Social media users called attention to the offensive lyrics in 'Heated.'
Beyoncé is making a change to her lyrics in the song “Heated” from her latest album, Renaissance, following backlash from the disabled community.
On Monday, a rep for the singer told ET, “The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced.”
On the song “Heated,” Beyoncé sings, “Spazzin’ on that a**, spazz on that a**,” which has been labeled as ableist by members of the disabled community.
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes, spastic is defined as “a condition in which there is an abnormal increase in muscle tone or stiffness of muscle, which might interfere with movement, speech, or be associated with discomfort or pain. Spasticity is usually caused by damage to nerve pathways within the brain or spinal cord that control muscle movement."
It continued, "It may occur in association with spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, stroke, brain or head trauma, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, hereditary spastic paraplegias, and metabolic diseases such as adrenoleukodystrophy, phenylketonuria, and Krabbe disease.”
On Monday, writer and disability advocate Hannah Diviney -- who has cerebral palsy -- wrote a piece for The Guardian, calling attention to the lyrics.
“Beyoncé’s commitment to storytelling musically and visually is unparalleled, as is her power to have the world paying attention to the narratives, struggles and nuanced lived experience of being a black woman – a world I can only ever understand as an ally, and have no desire to overshadow,” Diviney writes.
She continues, “But that doesn’t excuse her use of ableist language – language that gets used and ignored all too often. Language you can be sure I will never ignore, no matter who it comes from or what the circumstances are.”
Diviney’s call to Beyoncé came six weeks after she flagged offensive lyrics in Lizzo's song, “GRRRLS.”
"Hold my bag, b***h/ Hold my bag/ Do you see this s**t?/ I’m a spaz/ I’m about to knock somebody out/ Yo, where my best friend?/ She the only one I know to talk me off the deep end," Lizzo sang in the song.
Following a tweet from Diviney, Lizzo apologized and announced a new version of the song would be released.
"It's been brought to my attention that there is a harmful word in my song 'GRRRLS.' Let me make one thing clear: I never want to promote derogatory language. As a fat black woman in America, I've had hurtful words used against me so I understand the power words can have (whether intentionally or in my case, unintentionally.)" the "Good as Hell" singer said.
She continued, "I'm proud to say there's a new version of 'GRRRLS' with a lyric change. This is a result of me listening and taking action. As an influential artist I'm dedicated to being a part of the change I've been waiting to see in the world. Xoxo, Lizzo."
Renaissance is Queen Bey's seventh studio album.
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