Beyoncé is removing an offensive term for disabled people from a new song on her record “Renaissance," just weeks after rapper Lizzo also changed lyrics to remove the same word.
A spokeswoman for Beyoncé said in a Monday statement provided to the New York Times that “the word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced.”
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 her songs, “Grrrls," in June after disability advocates complained about the lyrics. Lizzo said in a statement she never wanted to promote derogatory language.
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Disability advocate Hannah Diviney, who pointed out Lizzo’s lyrics that lead to the change, wrote on Twitter that hearing the word again used by Beyoncé “felt like a slap in the face to me, the disabled community & the progress we tried to make with Lizzo.”
