August 02, (THEWILL) – American singer, Beyonce Knowles, is set to remove an ableist slur from her new album, Renaissance, after facing criticism from disability advocates.
The 40-year-old singer received rave reviews for the album released on Friday, but came under fire over the weekend when fans noticed the inclusion of a derogatory term in the song, Heated.
In the song co-written by Drake, Beyoncé sings the word “spazzin”, coming from a term demeaning to people living with spastic cerebral palsy.
The disorder affects a person’s ability to control their muscles, especially in their arms and legs.
Since it’s release, many have taken to Twitter to criticise the song.
“So @Beyoncé used the word ‘spazzin in her new song Heated. Feels like a slap in the face to me, the disabled community and the progress we tried to make with Lizzo,” disability advocate, Hannah Diviney, wrote on Twitter.
“Guess I’ll just keep telling the whole industry to ‘do better’ until ableist slurs disappear from music.”
Another commentator tweeted: “Screw you @Beyoncé. You should be a role model, not making money from the lazy use of derogatory language. Shame on you”, another Twitter user tweeted.
However, representatives for the singer confirmed on Monday that the lyric would be removed, saying the singer did not use “the word intentionally in a harmful way. (It) will be replaced,” they told CNN.
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