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Beyoncé to change 'Heated' lyrics after ableist slur backlash

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Beyoncé’s seventh studio album “Renaissance” debuted July 29 to universal acclaim, but one lyric in the song “Heated” left many listeners  outraged on social media. The song includes the word “spaz” during a verse in which Beyonce sings: “Spazzin’ on that ass, spazz on that ass.” In the medical field, “spastic” refers to a disability that makes it difficult for people to control their muscles, especially in their arms and legs. The singer’s team confirmed to Variety that the lyric will be removed.

“The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced,” a statement from Beyoncé’s team reads.

The lyric was criticized as ableist and offensive on social media, and it even inspired an essay published on The Guardian in which writer Hannah Diviney wrote, “Beyoncé’s commitment to storytelling musically and visually is unparalleled, as is her power to have the world paying attention to the narratives, struggles and nuanced lived experience of being a Black woman… But that doesn’t excuse her use of ableist language.”

Beyoncé’s decision to remove the ableist lyric follows Lizzo’s decision to do the same. Lizzo used the same term in her song “Grrrls” off her latest album, “Special.” In the original track, Lizzo sang: “Hold my bag, bitch, hold my bag/ Do you see this shit? I’m a spaz.” The new version of the song finds Lizzo singing: “Hold my bag, bitch, Hold my bag/ Do you see this shit? Hold me back.”

“Let’s make one thing clear: I never want to promote derogatory language,” Lizzo wrote on social media while announcing the lyric change. The singer added that she was “proud” to have taken the steps to “listen and take action.”

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Part of me understands, but another part of me is like “it’s AAVE…” which obviously shows a disconnect between black snd white disabled folks  

I didn’t even know it was an ablelist slur until Lizzo 

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5 hours ago, Kylie said:

What I found weird is they decided to keep the lyric in, while Lizzo was literally called out weeks ago

Same! How did not a single person on Bey’s team hear about this..

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1 hour ago, Kyoteki said:

Part of me understands, but another part of me is like “it’s AAVE…” which obviously shows a disconnect between black snd white disabled folks  

I didn’t even know it was an ablelist slur until Lizzo 

I completely agree with this.

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2 hours ago, Kyoteki said:

Part of me understands, but another part of me is like “it’s AAVE…” which obviously shows a disconnect between black snd white disabled folks  

I didn’t even know it was an ablelist slur until Lizzo 

That you didn’t know doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be called out though…it especially weird since the whole world was calling Lizzo out for using the same word like 2/3 weeks ago

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58 minutes ago, Kylie said:

That you didn’t know doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be called out though…it especially weird since the whole world was calling Lizzo out for using the same word like 2/3 weeks ago

I mean I fully agree. Just insight from me as a black person

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14 hours ago, Kyoteki said:

Part of me understands, but another part of me is like “it’s AAVE…” which obviously shows a disconnect between black snd white disabled folks  

I didn’t even know it was an ablelist slur until Lizzo 

I've said this in the Lizzo thread about it but there was a Zoey 101 episode about this in the early 2000s with a message of anti-ableist slurs true1 

Specifically the word in question

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What I found weird is they decided to keep the lyric in, while Lizzo was literally called out weeks ago

Part of me understands, but another part of me is like “it’s AAVE…” which obviously shows a disconnect between black snd white disabled folks   I didn’t even know it was an ablelist slur until Li

Beyoncé’s seventh studio album “Renaissance” debuted July 29 to universal acclaim, but one lyric in the song “Heated” left many listeners  outraged on social media. The song includes the word “spaz” d


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