Beyoncé to Remove Offensive 'Renaissance' Lyric After Backlash

Beyoncé has agreed to change the lyrics to one of the songs on her new album Renaissance after being called out for using a word many people said was ableist. After debuting her album on July 29, some fans of Queen Bey took offense on social media at her use of the word "spaz" in her song "Heated," which includes lyrics, "Spazzin' on that ass, spazz on that ass."

The word "spastic" was originally a medical term but has come to be recognized widely as a derogatory description of people with disabilities. After the uproar, the singer's team confirmed in a statement to Variety that the lyric would be replaced: "The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced," the statement reads.

Beyoncé's decision to remove the lyrics follows on the heels of Lizzo's decision to do the same after being called out for using the same word in her song "Grrrls" off her album Special. In the original song, Lizzo sang, "Hold my bag, b-, hold my bag/ Do you see this s-? I'm a spaz." In the new version, however, Lizzo sings, "Hold my bag, b-, Hold my bag/ Do you see this s-? Hold me back."

"Let's make one thing clear: I never want to promote derogatory language," Lizzo wrote on social media to announce the change in June, saying she was "proud" to have taken the steps to "listen and take action." Lizzo defended her decision on The Breakfast Club soon after when host Charlamagne tha God said he was "mad" at her for changing the lyric.

"Spaz means to lose physical or emotional control," he noted. "Like, a coach can spaz during a game. You can spaz out because you're upset about something. Like, it doesn't just mean a physical ailment." Lizzo responded, "It's a nuanced conversation. For me, everybody is talking about it now, there are think pieces everywhere. I thought, what's the best thing I can do? I can say my opinion on it and just add to everyone's opinion, or I can do something about it."

"And really, I wanted to be a leader in what we should be doing as a culture, like, making this world a better place," she continued. "If they could do that for Black people, that would be amazing." The "Good as Hell" singer added, "When we call things out, if they could make changes that quickly for us – if I could do it that quickly, I did it on a Sunday night and it was fixed by Monday. They could do that for us when we call out injustices for us. So I wanted to be a leader in that."

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