Beyonce Criticized For Using Offensive Word In Her Album ‘Renaissance’

Beyonce is facing backlash for using offensive lyrics on her new album, Renaissance.

The lyric comes from her song “Heated,” co-written by rapper Drake. She uses the offensive term “spaz,” which is used to demean people with spastic cerebral palsy.

Scope, a disability equality charity, is asking for the “Single Ladies” singer, 40, to re-record the song without the offensive lyric.

“Words matter because they reinforce the negative attitudes disabled people face every day,” said media manager Warren Kirwan in a statement. “Beyoncé has long been a champion of inclusivity and equality, so we’d urge her to remove this offensive lyric.”

“If you think of how many people that song will go through and not one of them thought, ‘Hang on a minute,’ and not one person was not aware of the hoo-hah when Lizzo used the same word. It’s very disappointing,” Fox said.

Back in June, Lizzo faced a similar situation over her song “GRRRLS,” which included the word. She quickly apologized and re-recorded the song.

“Let me make one thing clear: I never want to promote derogatory language,” Lizzo wrote in a statement posted to social media. “As a fat black woman in America, I’ve had many hurtful words used against me so I understand the power words can have (whether intentionally or in my case, unintentionally).”

Fans took to social media to come at Beyonce for her lyric choice, asking her to change it.

“What was the point of Lizzo changing her lyrics if Beyoncé could just casually drop a song that has the same exact words in it?” asked epilepsy campaigner @theblackgirlwarrior on TikTok.

“So @Beyonce used the word ‘spaz’ in her new song Heated. Feels like a slap in the face to me,” wrote disability advocate Hannah Diviney. “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.”

“After the outcry from Lizzo using the word “sp@z”, I can’t believe that nobody in Beyoncé’s team was aware of how hurtful the word is to many within the disabled community. Surely one of ‘Heated’s 11 writers and 10 producers must have known?,” wrote autism advocate Callum Stephen.

“Language is such a complex thing and words can validly mean different things to different people, but I don’t see why any artist would use a word in their song that causes so much upset to millions worldwide.”

After hearing the criticism, Beyonce has agreed to drop the word from the song.