Strike three: now it's Eminem using the ableist slur

A week ago, disability advocate Hannah Diviney called out Beyoncé for using ableist language in one of her songs - just as she did when another American singer, Lizzo, used the same word in her track only weeks before. Now Eminem has dropped the slur in a track on his new album - and Hannah’s not letting it slide.

I thought the world would give us more than a week before we had to have this conversation again. But I was wrong. Now, we’re talking about Eminem. On Friday he released his new album, Curtain Call 2, and in the very first track, ‘Godzilla’, a duet with the late rapper Juice WRLD, there’s that word again. Spaz.

To be clear, the song itself was originally released as a single back in 2020. I do not ask or expect every artist who has used ableist slurs - of which I know there are many - to erase or rewrite their musical history. I only ask that they don’t do it now.

However, the fact that this song opens an album released only two days ago makes it feel acutely relevant to our recent conversations. 

How did no one in Eminem’s team - people who are paid to keep an eye on the pulse of the music industry - not see what’s been going on over the last six weeks and foresee that if they re-released this song in the current moment, all hell would break loose? 

I know it’s time-consuming and expensive to re-record a song but, as Beyoncé & Lizzo have so graciously shown recently, it can be done. If you care.

I can’t comment on whether or not people within the disabled community called out Eminem for his use of that slur at the time, but I can imagine they did. Because anyone who believes we’ve only just started to care about the harm caused by ableist language needs to learn our history. 

Clearly, anyone who did speak out wasn’t listened to.

In case you’re wondering where I was in 2020, I was 21, focusing my energy on learning how to navigate a double degree online and stay safe from the grip of the pandemic. Beyond that, I was only just beginning to dip my toe into the waters of disability advocacy - both as an identity and a job. 

Image: Hannah Diviney on ABC's Q&A

At the time, I was deeply unwell. Mental illness was wreaking havoc with my brain and leaving me emotionally fraught. If the last few weeks have been any indication of what I might have faced, the brutal truth is that back then, I wouldn’t have handled it. Things would have ended before they’d begun, and I wouldn’t be here for you to hear from now.

Of course, I wish the world had called out Eminem in 2020 and successfully held him accountable. But I choose to feel hopeful about the fact that someone brought it to my attention now. That tells me a whole lot has changed in the last two years. It demonstrates what people have learned. It tells me that society now expects those in positions of power, fame and influence to land on the side of allyship.  

I know now that people have actually been paying attention - and that will only ever be a good thing.

I don’t expect that Eminem will change the lyric; this isn’t exactly his first offence. Eminem has the privilege of rarely, if ever, being held accountable for his actions and unlike Beyoncé and Lizzo, he also has the privilege of never having to know the sting of language and life in the margins. Such is the reality for straight, white, able-bodied men. But maybe, just maybe, he'll prove me wrong. Let's hope.

Whatever he does, though, writing this matters. For me, it’s always been about the slur, not its speaker. Eminem doesn’t deserve to get away with it.