Lizzo has removed an offensive term from her latest song following criticism. The American singing and rap superstar made the change to new release Grrrls saying she "never want(ed) to promote derogatory language."
Grrrls, from the musician’s upcoming album Special, was released on Friday. In the opening verse she used the word 's***' a derogatory term for spastic diplegia, a type of cerebral palsy. In the US the word has different connotations where its definition is to 'lose physical or emotional control.'
In her opening verse, the Grammy winner, whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson, sang: "Hold my bag, b****, hold my bag. Do you see this s***? Ima s***." Hannah Diviney tweeted: "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. They added: "‘S***’ doesn’t mean freaked out or crazy. It’s an ableist slur. It’s 2022. Do better."
