A number of music fans have been blasting Beyoncé’s new album Renaissance since its official release on July 29, with many being especially critical of the song “Heated.” They are taking exception to a specific lyric on the track that disability charities and activists have deemed offensive. The song includes the word “spaz” in the song as Beyoncé says “Spazzing on that a–.”
The word is used at times to describe “freaking out,” but it comes from the word “spastic” and could be demeaning to people with cerebral palsy. The disorder affects a person’s ability to control their muscles, especially in their arms and legs.
So @Beyonce used the word 'spaz' in her new song Heated. Feels like a slap in the face to me, the disabled community & the progress we tried to make with Lizzo. Guess I'll just keep telling the whole industry to 'do better' until ableist slurs disappear from music 💔
— Hannah Diviney (@hannah_diviney) July 30, 2022
A statement from Beyoncé’s team says, “The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced.”
This decision to remove the lyric from the song follows Lizzo’s decision to do the same in her single “Grrrls.”
— FOLLOW @YITTY (@lizzo) June 13, 2022
“It’s been brought to my attention that there is a harmful word in my new song “GRRRLS”. Let’s make one thing clear: I never want to promote derogatory language,” Lizzo said in the post. “As a fat black woman in America, I’ve had many hurtful words used against me so I understand the power words can have [whether intentionally or in my case, unintentionally].”
