Monica Lewinsky Is Calling For Beyonce To Change Another Controversial Song Lyric
Although both fans and critics drank up Beyoncé's new album "Renaissance" like camels at a desert oasis, the July 29 release did not arrive without controversy. The album's 11th track, "Heated," is a breezy celebration of owning one's queen-ness, but one line in the dance bop — "Spazzin' on that ass, spazz on that ass" per Genius — has rubbed many the wrong way. ("Spastic" refers to an involuntary medical condition that manifests in hypertonic muscles.) Coincidentally, singer-rapper Lizzo also removed the term from her single "Grrrls," and re-recording it in June after backlash per Time. Some fans, frankly, seem tired of reminding artists to be sensitive about ableist terms. "Feels like a slap in the face to me, the disabled community & the progress we tried to make with Lizzo. Guess I'll just keep telling the whole industry to 'do better' until ableist slurs disappear from music," one fan tweeted about "Heated."
Beyoncé's team confirmed to Variety that the lyric will be replaced (although they maintain that the word was "not used intentionally in a harmful way.") In the lyric's place will be the line, "Blastin' on that ass, blast on that ass." However, another Beyoncé lyric controversy immediately followed the "Heated" one
The Monica Lewinsky-Beyoncé Partition feud rages on
America has a problem, according to Monica Lewinsky — and it's not just Beyoncé's "Heated" lyrics. Lewinsky has publicly called to change a famous line from Beyoncé's 2013 song "Partition," in which Bey sings, "He popped all my buttons, and he ripped my blouse / He Monica Lewinsky-ed all on my gown," per Genius. An obvious reference to her late '90s sex scandal with then-president Bill Clinton, Lewinsky quote-tweeted the Variety article announcing Beyoncé's replacement of "Heated"'s lyric, adding, "Uhmm, while we're at it... #Partition."
This is not the first time Lewinsky has complained about "Partition." In a 2014 essay for Vanity Fair titled "Shame and Survival," Lewinsky notes that her name is still synonymously being used by pop artists to reference illicit sex acts. "Miley Cyrus references me in her twerking stage act, Eminem raps about me, and Beyoncé's latest hit gives me a shout-out," Lewinsky wrote, continuing, "Thanks, Beyoncé, but if we're verbing, I think you meant 'Bill Clinton'd all on my gown,' not 'Monica Lewinsky'd.'"
Some denizens of Twitter were not quite onboard with Lewinsky's call to action. "Are you not proud of it?" one user asked her, pointing out that her bio lists her as a "rap song muse." A (slightly) more understanding fan argued that Beyoncé's lyric wasn't truly derogatory toward Lewinsky. "Girl be realistic... Why are you only talking about Beyoncé... Beyoncé's line wasn't even bad," they wrote.