MEAWW.COM / NEWS / CELEBRITY NEWS

TOO COOL TO CANCEL? Internet split over whether Beyonce should KEEP ableist slur on 'Heated'

A rep for the R&B songstress revealed that the word ‘Spaz’ was not used in a harmful way adding that it will be replaced

More than a month after Lizzo was dragged for using an ableist slur in her song called ‘Grrrls’, it is Beyonce now who faced backlash over the same. The Grammy-winning crooner was brutally mocked for using the word ‘spaz’ in her song ‘Heated’ which is part of her newly-released seventh solo album ‘Renaissance’. The track was released in collaboration with Toronto rap icon Drake.
 
Beyonce, after getting severely dragged over her lyrics, vowed to remove the slur. A representative for the R&B songstress revealed that the word was not used in a harmful way adding that it will be replaced. An apology from the singer was missing though. Amid the controversy, the loyal fans of Beyonce defended her use of the term ‘Spaz’ saying she should keep it as it was not considered a slur in Black America. 
 
READ MORE
Lizzo ‘Grrrls’: Singer changes ableist slur after facing backlash, fans say ‘y’ll made that up’

Who is Gabbie Hanna? Here's why social media influencer is labeled an 'ableist' by the Internet   

Beyonce to remove ableist slur amid backlash

Beyonce, in her song ‘Heated’, which is co-written by Drake, sings, “Spazzin' on that a**, spazz on that a**." Her rep issued an official statement to Variety saying, “The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced.” The singer did not share anything on her socials regarding the same. For the unversed, the term ‘spaz’ emerges from the word ‘spastic’, which is used medically to describe the spasms one might experience from a condition like cerebral palsy.
 
Lizzo, who too ended up changing the lyrics of her song ‘Grrrls’, had sung, “Hold my bag/ Do you see this s**t?/ I'm a sp*z/ I'm about to knock somebody out/ Yo, where my best friend?/ She the only one I know to talk me off the deep end.” She had later apologized for her actions- something which Beyonce is yet to do.   

A writer had sparked a debate over Queen Bey’s controversial lyrics saying, “So @Beyonce used the word 'spaz' in her new song Heated. Feels like a slap in the face to me, the disabled community & the progress we tried to make with Lizzo. Guess I'll just keep telling the whole industry to 'do better' until ableist slurs disappear from music.” Warren Kirwan, Media Manager at disability equality charity Scope too chimed in saying, “It's appalling that one of the world's biggest stars has chosen to include this deeply offensive term”, as reported by The Daily Mail.   

‘She should keep it. The word wasn’t used in a bad way’

The loyal fans of Beyonce thronged to Twitter to defend the singer’s lyrics. “Neither Beyoncé nor Lizzo should have changed it, Spaz is NOT a slur in Black America and we simply can not let folks across the pond dictate how we talk”, claimed one user as another stated, “Spaz is not a slur, not in the way Beyoncé and Lizzo used it. It’s a slang that is referring to a type of jumpiness or general hyper activeness.” Another posted, “But she shouldnt have to. because in BLACK CULTURE spazz communicates that something is irritating or annoying.”
 
The next one tweeted, “Y’all love to find the worst connotation to words and make them a bad thing. it’s the same thing with “gypsy” which isn’t a slur at all it’s just ppl doing too much.” One added, “She should keep it. The word wasn’t used in a bad way.” Meanwhile, one stated, “Oh ok this must have been a stunt I can’t imagine her removing this so quickly over someone throwing a tantrum over a word that wasn’t even used in a negative way… whew chile. It’s a good idea to get more listens on the song though.”    

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.