Singer Beyoncé has faced a backlash for the use of an offensive term in her song Heated, with a UK disability charity urging her to remove the word. The track features on the American singer-songwriter’s highly anticipated seventh studio album, Renaissance , which was released last week.
The 40-year-old has since received criticism online over the lyrics to Heated, which was co-written by Canadian rapper Drake, for the inclusion of an ableist slur which is used twice towards the end of the song. The term is sometimes used to refer to individuals with cerebral palsy, a condition which affects sufferers’ muscle co-ordination.
Disability equality charity Scope spoke out against Beyoncé's use of the word, less than a month after it did the same for American singer-songwriter Lizzo. The charity’s media manager, Warren Kirwan, said: “It’s appalling that one of the world’s biggest stars has chosen to include this deeply offensive term.
