Beyoncé Will Re-Record Offensive ‘Renaissance’ Lyrics Following Backlash

Beyoncé’s new album Renaissance was highly anticipated by her admirers. She was recently chastised for using a derogatory term that has often been used to demean people with spastic cerebral palsy on the album’s song ‘Heated.’ Beyoncé has now confirmed that the lyric will be removed from her album after disability charities and activists labeled it “ableist” and “offensive.”

In a statement to BBC, the star’s publicist said that the term, which might have different connotations in the United States, was “not used intentionally in a harmful way.” It “will be replaced in the lyrics,” they said, without specifying when. The outrage occurred only a few weeks after Lizzo, a US pop musician, apologized for using the same term in her song GRRRLS.

Within a few days, she apologized and re-released the song with the offensive lyric removed.

“Let me make one thing clear: I never want to promote derogatory language.”

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“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).”

When fans heard Beyoncé’s song on Friday, it felt “like a slap in the face,” according to disability advocate Hannah Diviney. “I’m tired and frustrated that we’re having this conversation again so soon after we got such a meaningful and progressive response from Lizzo,” she said. Scope, a disability charity, also requested that Beyoncé re-record the song without the slur.

Other fans supported the singer, pointing out that the phrase may have a different connotation in the United States, where it is commonly used to signify “freaking out” or “going crazy.” Despite the uproar, Beyoncé’s seventh studio album, Renaissance, is anticipated to top the charts throughout the world this week.

Beyoncé’s album is currently outselling the rest of the top five in the United Kingdom. Break My Soul, the lead single is predicted to top the charts as well. To get the latest updates, keep an eye on Thirsty.

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