Beyonce is removing an offensive term for disabled people from a new song on her album “Renaissance,” just weeks after rapper Lizzo did the same.
“The word, which was not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced,” a Beyonce spokeswoman said in a statement to The Associated Press on Monday.
The word “spaz” is used in the song “Heated,” which was co-written with Canadian rapper Drake, among others, and is considered a derogatory reference to the medical term spastic diplegia, a type of cerebral palsy.
In June, Lizzo removed the word from one of her songs, “Grrrls,” after disability advocates objected to the lyrics. Lizzo stated in a statement that she would never promote derogatory language.
Hearing the word again used by Beyoncé “felt like a slap in the face to me, the disabled community, and the progress we tried to make with Lizzo,” wrote disability advocate Hannah Diviney on Twitter.