Beyonce receives backlash for Ableist slur on the new song “Heated”.
Last week, Beyonce made her return with the long-due solo album “Renaissance“, but now the superstar got into some controversy over her song “Heated”. The 40-year-old is receiveing backlash for using an ableist slur in the track, and she now intends to change the lyrics. “The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced,” a statement from her team reads.
The track features the line “Sp***in’ on that a*s, sp** on that a*s.” The word comes from the term “spastic,” which is used in a negative manner for people with disabilities, especially cerebral palsy.
“Beyonce’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,” wrote Disability advocate Hannah Diviney.
Here we are again.
Not long after ableist language from Lizzo, Beyoncé’s new album features an ableist slur not once, but twice.
Disabled people’s experiences are not fodder for song lyrics. This must stop.https://t.co/UJXrJxdtXf
— Scope (@scope) August 1, 2022
Recently, Lizzo received backlash for using the same phrase in her new song, “Grrls.” She changed the song’s lyrics and then released a statement. “Let me make one thing clear: I never want to promote derogatory language,” she wrote. “As a fat Black woman in America, I’ve had many hurtful words used against me so I overstand the power words can have (whether intentionally or in my case, unintentionally).”I’m proud to say there’s a new version of GRRRLS with a lyric change.”
View this post on Instagram
