Beyoncé Confirmed She Will Remove an Ableist Slur From “Heated”
On July 29th of 2022, Beyoncé made her fans worldwide super happy with the release of her new album Renaissance. But, the release of the album didn’t go without any controversy. The artist is now facing a significant backlash for people over some lyrics that contain an ableist slur. All of that was unintentional but it made people talk about it. Let’s see what happened!
What Were Beyoncé’s Lyrics?
The disabled community called out Beyoncé for using words that are hurtful and should be removed from the lyrics of her song “Heated.” The lyrics include the word “spaz,” which according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, in the USA is commonly used slang for “go crazy,” which is exactly what it was intended to mean in the lyrics of the song.
However, in the UK the word is an ableist slur, and in some other countries as well, it refers to a medical condition called spastic paralysis. After the backlash, a rep of the singer confirmed that the lyrics of the song will be changed. The statement was that the word was not intentionally used in a harmful way but it will be removed from the song.
Another Song With the Same Word
Back in June this year, Lizzo released a song called “Grrrls,” where the word was also present. Lizzo responded to the backlash very quickly and changed the lyrics of the song. Then, she posted a statement on social media addressing the situation and how she reacted to it. She commented that it was brought to her attention what the word means to people from the disabled community and she never intended to use such language.
She even said that “As a fat black woman in America, I’ve had many hurtful words used against me so I understand the power words can have.” She finished up by saying that as an influential figure, she wants to be part of the change and because of that the lyrics of the song have been corrected.
As for Beyoncé’s new song, there’s no information yet on how the lyrics will be changed but we will probably soon find out.