While Beyonce is switching some lyrics around, Lewinsky thinks maybe she might want to reexamine a lyric from a 2014 tune.
Changing things up. After Beyoncé confirmed that she would be changing a lyric in her song “Heated," Monica Lewinsky is suggesting another change to an older track.
The outspoken activist and public speaker took to Twitter on Monday, where she shared a link to an article about Beyoncé's decision to change a lyric deemed offensive on her new album.
Lewinsky remarked, "uhmm, while we’re at it… #Partition."
Lewinsky's comment is in reference to Beyoncé's 2014 single "Partition," in which she refers to Lewinsky by name, in connection to her infamous relationship with Bill Clinton in the mid-'90s.
"Now my mascara running, red lipstick smudged/ Oh he so horny, he want to f**k/ He popped all my buttons, and he ripped my blouse/ He Monica Lewinsky’d all on my gown."
Back in 2014, Lewinsky spoke out for the first time in years in an op-ed for Vanity Fair about how she managed to overcome the abuse and public shaming directed at her following the Clinton scandal. In the article, she addressed "Partition" and suggested a change to the lyrics: "Thanks, Beyoncé, but if we’re verbing, I think you meant ‘Bill Clinton’d all on my gown,’ not ‘Monica Lewinsky’d.’"
On Monday, one Twitter user asked Lewinsky if she'd ever actually reached out to Beyonce or her reps about the lyric.
"No, i haven’t. i did mention it in the first vanity fair article i wrote in 2014… which was the first public thing i’d done in 10 years. but you make an interesting/fair point…" Lewinsky replied.
As for Beyoncé's change to "Heated," it comes in the wake of backlash from the disabled community over her use of the word "spazz."
In 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.
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.”
On Monday, a rep for Beyoncé told ET, “The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced.”
Diviney’s call to Beyoncé came six weeks after she flagged offensive lyrics in Lizzo's song, “GRRRLS.”
Following a tweet from Diviney, Lizzo apologized and announced a new version of the song would be released.
Renaissance, released last week, is Beyoncé's seventh studio album.
RELATED CONTENT:
