Beyoncé is removing an offensive term for disabled people from a song on her new album, Renaissance, just weeks after rapper Lizzo also changed the lyrics to remove the same word.
“The word, which is not intentionally used in a harmful way, will be replaced,” a spokeswoman for Beyoncé wrote in a statement to The Associated Press on Monday.
The song Heated, which was co-written with Canadian rapper Drake, among others, uses the word “spaz”, which is considered a derogatory reference to the medical term spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy.
Lizzo removed the word from one of her songs, Grrrls, in June after disability advocates complained about the lyrics. Lizzo said in a statement that he never intended to promote derogatory language.
Disability advocate Hannah Diviney, who pointed out Lizzo’s lyrics and instigated the change, wrote on Twitter that hearing the word used by Beyoncé “felt like a slap in the face to me, the disability community and the progress we tried to make with Lizzo.”