Lizzo opened up about the controversy of her song “GRRRLS” and explained why she adjusted the song’s lyrics after fans criticized her for using an ableist slur.
To recap, the song originally contained the lyrics, “Hold my bag, b****, hold my bag / Do you see this s***? I’m a spaz.” She has since adjusted the last sentence to “Hold me back” after fans pointed out the word is ableist.
Lizzo opened up about the controversy to Vanity Fair and explained, “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. 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.”
Added Lizzo, “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. The internet brought it to my attention, but that wouldn’t [have been enough] to make me change something.”
Lizzo also called out those who continue to criticize her for using the word. She asked, “Am I not being an artist and reflecting the times and learning, listening to people, and making a conscious change in the way we treat language, and help people in the way we treat people in the future?”
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