Monica Lewinsky Wants Beyonce to Change ‘Partition’ Lyric After the Removal of ‘Heated’ Ableist Slur

Starr Bowenbank
·2 min read
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Beyoncé‘s Renaissance has become a critically-acclaimed album in the few days since its release, but the acclaim has not been without controversy — several fans took issue with track “Heated” for its use of the ableist slur “spaz” in the lyrics. In light of the backlash, Monica Lewinsky is now having her say on one of Bey’s older tracks.

In a Tuesday (Aug. 2) Twitter post, the television personality and activist shared a Variety article, which states that the 28-time Grammy winner will be removing the ableist word from “Heated” in light of the backlash it received online. “Uhmm, while we’re at it… #Partition,” Lewinsky added to the tweet.

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“Partition,” the third single from Beyoncé’s self titled fifth studio album, features Lewinsky’s name towards the end of the track’s first verse: “Oh, me so horny, yeah, he want to f–k/ He popped all my buttons, and he ripped my blouse/ He Monica Lewinsky-ed all on my gown,” Bey sings on the sultry R&B track.

A Twitter user then asked Lewinsky, “Have you reached out to Beyoncé or her team before you saw all the heat? I am curious.” Lewinsky replied, “No, I haven’t. I did mention it in the first vanity fair article I wrote in 2014… which was the first public thing I’d done in 10 years. but you make an interesting/fair point…”

The 49-year-old — who infamously had an affair with former President Bill Clinton while working at the White House in 1995 and 1996 — very briefly referenced the line in “Partition” in her 2014 Vanity Fair feature and said, “Thanks, Beyoncé, but if we’re verbing, I think you meant ‘Bill Clinton’d all on my gown,’ not ‘Monica Lewinsky’d.’”

While Beyoncé’s team has yet to comment on Lewinsky’s request, a representative did share with Variety that the use of the word “spaz” in “Heated” was “not used intentionally in a harmful way.”

See Lewinsky’s tweets below.

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