Lizzo Responds To Ableist Slur Accusation - Noise11.com
Lizzo photo by Jora Frantzis supplied by Warner Music

Lizzo photo by Jora Frantzis supplied by Warner Music

Lizzo Responds To Ableist Slur Accusation

by Music-News.com on October 13, 2022

in News

Lizzo responded in a Tuesday interview to accusations that she used an ableist slur in hit song Grrrls.

While speaking to Vanity Fair for an interview published on 11 October, Lizzo addressed criticism that her track contained an ableist slur.

Featured on her album Special, the song includes the lyric, “Hold my bag, bitch, hold my bag / Do you see this shit? I’ma spaz.”

The line was criticised for using the word “spaz”, a shortening of the word “spastic”. This word has roots in the 1980s United Kingdom, when it was used to bully people with cerebral palsy.

Lizzo later changed the line in question to “Do you see this shit? / Hold me back” and issued an apology to fans online.

In her Vanity Fair interview, the R&B star explained why she wrote it initially.

“I’d never heard it used as a slur against disabled people, never ever. The music I make is in the business of feeling good and being authentic to me,” she said. “Using a slur is unauthentic to me, but I did not know it was a slur.”

She continued, “It’s a word I’ve heard a lot, especially in rap songs, and with my Black friends and in my Black circles: It means to go off, turn up. I used (it as a) verb, not as a noun or adjective.

“I used it in the way that it’s used in the Black community.”

music-news.com

Stay updated with your free Noise11.com daily music news email alert. Subscribe to Noise11 Music News here

Be the first to see NOISE.com’s newest interviews and special features on YOUTUBE and updated regularly. See things first SUBSCRIBE here: Noise11 on YouTube SUBSCRIBE

YouTube video player

Noise11.com

Follow Noise11 on Social Media

Noise11 on Instagram

You’ll discover music news first following Noise11 on Twitter

Comment on the news of the day, join Noise11 on Facebook

Related Posts

Jacob's Run
Jacobs Run Release First New Music Since 2019

‘Sunday’ is the first song from Melbourne band Jacobs Run since the band’s self-titled 2019.

4 days ago
Mark Ronson photo by Ros O'Gorman
Mark Ronson and Raye Premiere New Music ‘Suzanne’

Mark Ronson and RAYE have shared the track Suzanne after wanting to work together "for years".

June 14, 2025
The Speaker Wars photo Michelle Ganeles
The Speaker Wars Release Their Debut Album With Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Legend Stan Lynch

For anyone who has ever loved a Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers album, the timing in the bands early days belong to the legendary Stan Lynch. Stan turned 70 a few weeks ago and last week was part of a new band with a sound as true to The Heartbreakers as you would ever find, The Speaker Wars.

June 4, 2025
Helen Ryder
Helen Ryder Previews Second Album ‘Love Over Hate’ with ‘Magnetic Field’

Australian singer songwriter Helen Ryder has revealed her second album ‘Love Over Hate’ will be released later in 2025. To get things rolling, a new song ‘Magnetic Field’ teases the album.

June 3, 2025
Bob Dylan at the Hollywood Bowl 31 July 2024 photo with thanks to Richard Gilkerson
Billy Strings Joins Bob Dylan In Washington

Bob Dylan performed ‘All Along the Watchtower’ with Billy Strings in Spokane.

May 27, 2025
Chappell Roan
Chappell Roan Says She Isn’t The Villain

Chappell Roan is taking a stand against accusations she is a "villain" of the pop world.

May 21, 2025
The Lathums supplied Frontier Touring
The Lathums Will Tour Australia For The First Time

Oasis aren’t the only Manchester band on the way to Australia. The Lathums will tour Australia for the very first time in October.

May 15, 2025