Beyoncé’s new song ‘Heated’ – which the singer has since edited to remove the offensive term – suggesting that she also change a lyric on her 2015 hit ‘Partition’.Released as the third single from Beyoncé’s self-titled 2015 album, ‘Partition’ features a lyric that name-drops Lewinsky.
Referring to Lewinsky’s infamous scandal with former US President Bill Clinton, Bey sings on the track: “Oh, he so horny, yeah he want to fuck / He popped all my buttons, he ripped my blouse / He Monica Lewinsky’d all on my gown.” Lewinsky first addressed the lyrics in a 2014 article written for Vanity Fair, wherein she said: “Thanks, Beyoncé, but if we’re verbing, I think you meant ‘Bill Clinton’d all on my gown’.”Now, she’s revived talk of the reference on Twitter, responding to the news that Beyoncé would change an ableist lyric on the song ‘Heated’, which appears on her just-released ‘Renaissance’ album.
Similar to a recent controversy with Lizzo’s song ‘Grrrls’ (which was also amended shortly thereafter), Beyoncé caught flak earlier this week for using the word “spaz” in one of the song’s lyrics.While used colloquially in the United States with a similar meaning to “freak out” or “go crazy”, the term emerges from the word “spastic”, which is used medically to describe the spasms one might experience from a condition like cerebral palsy.
The term is often used in a derogative manner to describe those with disabilities, especially cerebral palsy.Following the backlash, Beyoncé’s publicist confirmed that the offensive lyric in ‘Heated’ would indeed be altered.
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