After being called out by fans for using an ableist slur, Beyonce has decided to change the lyrics to one of the songs on her newest Renaissance album.
The 40-year-old megastar released her 7th studio album last week, which features 16 hit songs by the Grammy-winning artist.
One song in particular, Heated, contained a controversial lyric that has offended many of her fans: “Sp**zin’ on that a*s, s**z on that a*s,” she said in collaboration with rapper Drake.
The term is most often used in a derogative state, specifically to describe those with disabilities such as cerebral palsy.
The incident comes weeks after fellow singer Lizzo was called out for using the same word in her new song Grrrls.
After receiving backlash, Beyonce decided to change the song lyric and remove the harmful word from the track altogether.
“The word, not used intentionally in a harmful manner, will be replaced in the lyrics,” a statement given to MailOnline read.
Fans react to Beyonce using ableist term on Renaissance album
Regarding the slur used by the Love on Top phenomenon, members of “The Beyhive” and beyond were quick to take their thoughts to social media on the matter.
“So @Beyonce used the word ‘s**z’ 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,” one disappointed fan tweeted.
“Hey @Beyonce using the word ‘s**z’ or ‘sp**zin’ in #Heated is not cool! Ask @Lizzo! This feels like a slap in the face to the disabled community. Please re-consider using this ableist term,” another user tweeted.
“On this side of the pond ‘s**z’ is an offensive term no matter if you are black, white, brown, yellow, pink, red. It comes from the word spastic. Don’t use it, it’s that simple. If you want to be ‘international’, think of your ‘international’ fanbase when writing songs. #Beyonce,” another user wrote similarly.
Lizzo recently removed the same derogatory word from new song
After Lizzo released her hit song Grrrls this past June, she received similar backlash for using the word “s**z” in one of her lyrics.
“Hold my bag b**ch, hold my bag, do you see this s**t, I’m a sp*z,” the song’s opening line read.
As previously reported by Monsters and Critics, Lizzo immediately released a statement following the song’s release to address and apologize for using the harmful word.
“I never want to promote derogatory language,” the Juice singer wrote. “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).”
Lizzo said that she had quickly taken action to change the lyric and hold onto her word — a new version of the song was released on music-streaming platforms shortly after.
“I’m proud to say there’s a new version of GRRRLS with a lyric change. This is the result of me listening and taking action. As an influential artist I’m dedicated to being part of the change I’ve been waiting to see in the world. Xoxo, Lizzo,” she wrote.