(GEMS RADIO)—Lizzo is receiving backlash for a lyric in her new song “Grrrls“.
This past weekend, her fans responded on social media saying that the R&B star used the word “Spaz” and they viewed it as a derogatory term.
One listener said in her comments that “Hey @lizzo my disability Cerebral Palsy is literally classified as Spastic Diplegia (where spasticity refers to unending painful tightness in my legs) your new song makes me pretty angry + sad. ‘Spaz’ doesn’t mean freaked out or crazy. It’s an ableist slur. It’s 2022. Do better,” one disappointed listener wrote.
Another tweeted, “It doesn’t matter if lizzo knew the ableist connotations of the word sp*z, it is still problematic. so many people will sing this song and integrate the word into their day to day language.”
Others want the word removed the song entirely.
The single “Grrrls” is the second single off Lizzo’s, Special, coming out July 15 via Atlantic Records.