Beyoncé’s spokesperson confirmed that the American singer will remove an ableist slur spaz from her new song Heated, which features on her new album, Renaissance, know its meaning
The 40-year-old singer came under fire for using a word in her lyrics after she released her new album.
Ableist Slur Spaz Meaning And Examples Reddit List After Beyonce It In New Song Heated On Her Renaissance Album
When Beyoncé dropped the same ableist slur as Lizzo on her new album, my heart sank from popheads
There are lots of words on the ableist slur/term list that people are not ready to let go of.
— We’re Losing Recipes! (@SoualiganAmazon) August 2, 2022
Dear press and media: stop looking for quotes from white disabled advocates about Beyonce and this ableist slur controversy. Many Black disabled women understand intersectionality that they don't.
They can't see their unconscious bias, racism, or white privilege.
— Ola Ojewumi (@Olas_Truth) August 1, 2022
TW// Ableist slur
It’s actually stunning watching people blatantly lie about ableism over these last 24 hours. Beyoncé and Lizzo removed the slur, agreeing that it was necessary to do so even though harm wasn’t intended. What y’all even do all this for? It’s embarrassing. https://t.co/C2jrKowE0G
— Loni (They•Them) (@jaowrites) August 2, 2022
A THREAD :
Interesting how “Spazz” is an ableist slur for the disabled community (which I am not disputing) but yet this same word which has been in the BLACK community for years – (which Lizzo & Beyoncé are both part of) now just happens to be offensive & lyrics have change ? pic.twitter.com/51o9tmbizx
— doubles & pholouri (@_KhadijahBrit) August 1, 2022
why is everyone ignoring the fact that beyoncé said an ableist slur multiple times on her new album. pic.twitter.com/fqcxGEpmeY
— rem. (@MOSCATOlNMYCUP) July 29, 2022
Beyoncé’s fans are calling her out on Twitter. Some listeners explained the word as extremely offensive to the disabled community.
This backlash came shortly after another singer Lizzo removed a same slur from her song GRRRLS and issued an apology to fans online in June.
What did Beyoncé Say on Heated?
Beyoncé’ new song Heated was co-written with Drake. In this song she used a derogatory terms for spastic diplegia which is a form of cerebral palsy.
After listening to her new song, many people from disabled communities, activists, and charities began the backlash which led Beyoncé’s to confirm that she will remove the term from her song.
In a recent interview, a representative for the American songwriter-singer told the Insider that Beyonce will remove the word.
He told the publications that, “The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced”.
The Disability equality charity Scope describes the usage of words in her lyrics as “appalling”.
Though, once the news of Beyoncé changing the lyrics broke out, many people reacted in different ways.
The spokesperson of Scope, Warren Kirwan said, “It’s good Beyoncé has acted so swiftly after disabled people yet again called out this thoughtless lyric”.
He further added, “There’s a feeling of déjà vu as it’s just a few weeks since Lizzo also had to re-release a song after featuring the same offensive language.
We hope this is the last time we see this kind of thing from anyone, let alone musicians with massive global influence”.
What is an Ableist Slur?
According to Scope, ableism is discrimination in favour of non-disabled people. It lists examples as there being ro ramp to help a wheelchair user get on to a train or making assumptions about what a disabled person can or cannot do.
It also includes not making reasonable adjustments at work.
A slur is also known as a perjorative which is a derogatory word. This word is often used against a minority group. It may be used to have a belittling or disrespectful effect.
Lizzo issues apology after using slur
Recently, In July, Lizzo released her new album named Special. In the album, one of her singles entitled Grrrls, received heavy backlash online for containing an ableist slur.
Later, Lizzo apologized and released another updated version of the song without the Ableist word in it.
Juice singer took to her social media to explain that she never wants “to promote derogatory language”.
In her post, She said, “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)”.