The global diva, Beyoncé, faced some rare criticism this week after the release of her new record “Renaissance.”
In one of the songs on the album called “Heated,” she uses the word “spaz.” This is considered to be a derogatory reference to the medical term for spastic diplegia which is a form of cerebral palsy.
This happened just weeks after rapper Lizzo changed lyrics in a new song and removed the same word. Lizzo took the word out of the song “Grrrls” in June after disability advocates criticized the lyrics. Lizzo said in a statement that she never wanted to promote the derogatory language.
A spokesperson for Beyoncé wrote in a statement to the Associated Press on Monday, “The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced.”
“Heated” is a song that was co-written with Canadian rapper Drake, along with several others on the album.
Hannah Diviney is a disability advocate who brought the word to the spotlight when Lizzo’s song was released. She wrote on Twitter that hearing the word used again by Beyoncé “felt like a slap in the face to me.”
“So @Beyonce used the word ‘sp**’ in her new song ‘Heated’. Feels like a slap in the face to me, the disabled community and the progress we tried to make with Lizzo,” disability advocate Hannah Diviney wrote on Twitter.
“Guess I’ll just keep telling the whole industry to ‘do better’ until ableist slurs disappear from music.”
Another commentator tweeted: “Screw you @Beyonce. You should be a role model, not making money from the lazy use of derogatory language. Shame on you.”
Beyoncé had this to say to her fans: “Creating this album allowed me a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world.”
She said her “intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment. A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream, release, feel freedom. It was a beautiful journey of exploration.”
