Beyonce is removing the phrase derogatory to the disabled from her new song “Renaissance,” just weeks after rapper Lizzo also changed the lyrics to remove the same word.
A Beyonce spokesperson wrote in a statement to the Associated Press on Monday that: “
The song “Heated”, co-written with Canadian rapper Drake and several others, uses the word “spaz”, which is considered a derogatory reference to the medical term hemiplegia, a form of cerebral palsy. .
Lizzo also removed the word from one of her songs, “Grrrls,” in June after disability advocates complained about the lyrics. Lizzo said in a statement that she never wanted to promote offensive language.
Disability advocate Hannah Diviney, who pointed to Lizzo’s lyrics leading to change, wrote on Twitter that hearing the word used again by Beyonce “felt like a slap in the face to me, the disability community, and the progress we’ve been trying to make with Lizzo.”
