193: Why Lizzo's Lyric Change is About Damn Good PR

I do my hair toss, check my nails baby. How you feeling? Good because we're going to talk about Lizzo and three time Grammy winner Lizzo is changing her tune. The singer is removing what's considered an ableist slur from her song Girls. After coming under fire from the disabled community, Lizzo apologized in an Instagram post. Welcome to the Indestructible PR podcast where we use current events and tested media and PR strateg strategies to help prevent or manage a crisis and build an indestructible reputation. In this episode, let's discuss the Lizzo lyric that offended everyone. It seems so girl. Then she did something good as hell to fix it. When music and PR sound so well together, let's talk Lizzo. Here's where I wish I could play Lizzo music but copyright and also I will save you from listening to me try and attempt to sing Lizzo. But two weeks ago she released the song Girls and it was updated last Monday in order to remove a derogatory term for people with disabilities. Lizzo said she did not do it with an intent to offend anyone. But naturally in the culture that we're in, people took offense to it and something needed to happen. For those of you people who are not familiar with current music, Lizzo is a Grammy winning singer, she's also a rapper, and she is seen by many fans, myself included, as a female beacon of inclusivity. What Lizzo needed to do was address the lyric and how to change something or not. And she chose right away to do the right thing in my opinion, and that was to change the lyric in mere days after release. So you can imagine on the back end how much disruption this caused with a release of a major artist. But the reason why she needed to change the lyric is because there was a derogatory word that many consider derogatory towards people with disabilities. And many consider it a word that is somewhat dated because we don't hear it as much. At least I didn't. So work with me here in the original version of the song Girls. So that's Girls with G R R R L S. When it was released, the song used the word and I'm putting quotes here. Spaz S P A Z. Now if you're in my age bracket, that word I remember very much being a part of the language in the lexicon of my youth. I don't remember saying it a lot, but I certainly could have and certainly heard it. But the term, it means for someone to lose control and it's based on Spastic diplegia, which I didn't know that word. I had to look it up. But that's a form of cerebral palsy. So if you're familiar with cerebral palsy, that is the condition where you're going to see impairments in the legs and the arms and the motor skills. So a number of fans and a number of disability advocates immediately called on Lizzo to change what they viewed as an ableist slur. And it's another one of those terms that is somewhat divisive, where some people get it right away. Other people, they might think of it as nothing more than a taunt. But Lizzo, to her credit, she went ahead and changed it. But what I want to focus on is what she said and how she apologized for the remark. Because Lizzo, in my opinion, what happened last week, she set a new standard for how people in the limelight should apologize. As soon as the change was announced, Lizzo had posted her statement, which I'm going to read right now. And this statement is going to sound formulaic, like a formula, if you will, for when someone needs to acknowledge an error or admit to a mistake or a change. So let's take a listen, shall we? Oh, I'll set the scene. Picture Instagram, picture Twitter picture, you know, a statement within, like a notes app type statement that slapped all over social media. Here we go. It's been brought to my attention that there is a harmful word in my new song, Girls. Let me make one thing clear. I never want to promote derogatory language. As a fat black woman in America, I've had many hurtful words used against me. So I understand the power words can have, whether intentionally or in my case, unintentionally. I'm proud to say there's a new version of Girls with a lyric change. This is the result of me listening and taking action. As an influential artist, I'm dedicated to being part of the change I've been waiting to see in the world. Xo xo Lizzo. When I saw this statement pop up in Twitter, I did what I've been doing for the past few weeks, going to my new favorite social media haunt called TikTok. This is what I posted. And yes, if you're wondering, it wasn't scripted. It was completely top of mind, which I'm going to add here is an incredibly dangerous thing to do on TikTok, but it was pretty cut and dry. But take a listen to what I said as soon as I saw this post listed on TikTok. All right, Lizzo. Your statement so brought to my attention that there's been harmful words on Girls. Let me make this one thing clear. Never want to promote derogatory language. And it was as a fat black woman. Nice. I've had many hurtful words used. Nice, nice, nice. Xoxoxo yeah. Yes. And I know there's some buzz that the word never should have gotten by that many people should have been vetted by at least one person. True. But I'm gonna give somewhat of a generational pass on this one. My generation definitely gets it, but I think it's like a generational one that maybe makes sense. It got by some people, but this is more important. Acknowledging it and change. Nicely done, Lizzo. This is, by the way, how you do it. This is how you do it. All right, so let's go through the statement itself for the reason why. I think it is pristine in its intention and pristine in its execution. So let's follow the indestructible PR formula here for how to create an indestructible response. Step one. Say it with me. People own it. It's been brought to my attention that there is a harmful word in my new song, Girls. Let me make one thing clear. I never want to promote derogatory language. Okay? So, boom, Right off the bat, she is owning it. Two, explain it. As a fat black woman in America, I've had many hurtful words used against me. So I understand the power words can have, whether intentionally or in my case, unintentionally. What she did is explain it and put it into context. And what I absolutely love about this part of it is she framed it as a fat black woman in America. Right there. She's explaining that and making it very clear and easy to understand. She has had these hurtful words just thrown against her probably a lifetime, but definitely in this career context. So already you are rooting for her, and that's the power behind this framework. Next. Promise it. What are you going to do? Here we go. I'm proud to say there's a new version of Girls with a lyric change. This is a result of me listening and taking action as an influential artist. I love that. I'm dedicated to being a part of the change I've been waiting to see in the world. Xoxo Lizzo. Perfect. It's lyrical in its perfection. It just sings. That is how you do it. You write the statement and then you make the change. Why is this right? All you need to do is look at the replies, look at the response, everyone. If you look Online and you Google this change, everyone is commenting on the change that Lizzo made, how appropriate it was and how awesome Lizzo is for doing that. She took what was potentially a reputational ding and she turned it around and made her reputation sing. What she's doing is she's showing that it's possible to re examine words, phrases, actions where a lot of people just give little thought to it, but she can show that you can make a real change. So I want to read some of the comments that popped up on my TikTok just to give you a sense of the reaction I had mentioned, as you heard in my very unscripted and off the cuff TikTok that I thought, you know, from a Gen X point of view, we're familiar with this word now, kind of the ebb and the flow of it, that it was once considered okay to say it and then now it's not. At least I do. But I think younger kids, younger generations, because it's been out of the vernacular for a while, they don't know that it's necessarily a bad word to put in, you know, into a category of like really, really bad words. But some of the feedback that I got, I love. Oh, that's about me. I don't want to say that. Well, I will say I love this creator. The comms PR person and me cannot get enough. Thank you very much. I didn't mean to do that first when I read. So this was a good comment. I'm Gen X and we use that word so casually. When I was a teen, no self reflection. So glad for positive change. Next. I applaud her for doing this. But seriously, every day someone takes offense to something different. Every day. Yeah, but they're not getting it. And that was my reply. I said, yeah, but this word, she did the right thing. Here's another response. She handled it well with integrity and honesty and most importantly, it's clearly in her voice. Cough, Will Smith, cough. That's funny. Another one. I'm 30 in Australia and I've always seen the word as offensive. Same with the R word. I remember when the Black Eyed Peas song came out. Oh, that's interesting. Another one, it's clap emoji. That clap emoji. Simple clap emoji. So a lot of people are supporting her. I love at Lizzo. Oh my goodness, I love Lizzo. I'm 35 and the mother of a special needs child. So certainly some people in here are saying, you know, what's the big deal, right? Like, what is the big deal? And with issues, they're not always black and white like that. Like, just sometimes you have to kind of see through it. This is not a cancel culture moment. This is not a moment where, like, everybody has to make change. No, when it offends some, you need to make that change. Okay? And I think if you had a child who suffered with this or if you suffered with it, or a loved one who suffered with it, you could see it. Now, in every episode, I include an indestructible tip. That's that leave behind tip that's very easy to remember to help you build your indestructible reputation. So here's your thought. A mistake should never be a hard obstacle to overcome. So whether you're Lizzo or dealing with your own business or just, you know, yourself, drop victimhood and embrace the idea of change more and more. And maybe because I spend more time on TikTok, I'm noticing the opposite of change. Reflection. Corrective measures is always victimhood. Reversing a course doesn't always have to be about being victim victim of an attack. It can be very empowering just to come right out and make a change. Google Lizzo to see what I mean. That's all for this week on the podcast. Thanks for listening. Bye for now.