Beyonce has removed an offensive term for disabled people from a new song on her ‘Renaissance’ album, just weeks after rapper Lizo also changed the lyrics to remove the same word.
“The word, which is not used in an intentionally harmful way, will be replaced,” a spokeswoman for Beyonce wrote in a statement to The Associated Press on Monday.
The song “Heated,” which was co-written with Canadian rapper Drake, among several others, uses the word “spaz,” which is considered a derogatory reference to the medical term spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy.
Lizzo also removed the word from one of his songs, “Grrrls,” in June after disability advocates complained about the lyrics. Lizzo said in a statement that she never intended to promote derogatory language.
Disability advocate Hannah Divini, who pointed to Lizzo’s lyrics as leading to the change, wrote on Twitter that hearing the word used again by Beyoncé “felt like a slap in the face to me, the disability community and progress , which we tried to achieve with Lizzo.”
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