Beyoncé modified a verse in her new song “Heated” on August 1 to remove an ableist slur. Monica Lewinsky now wants the singer to make another lyrical alteration to her successful 2013 tune, “Partition.”
The same day, Lewinsky tweeted a link to Variety’s story on the ableist slur in Renaissance, along with the words, “Uhmm, since we’re at it… #Partition.” Beyoncé says in the song, “He Monica Lewinsky’d all over my gown,” an allusion to the Clinton-Lewinsky controversy of the late 1990s. It was discovered in 1998 that then-President Bill Clinton had previously had a sexual connection with Monica Lewinsky, who was then a White House intern. At the time, one of the key talking points of the controversy was a garment Lewinsky had that was contaminated with Clinton’s, yeah, DNA.
In the years since, Lewinsky has been honest about how the scandal affected her, especially the fact that her name was the only one linked to the scandal for a long time, even though Clinton was much more powerful and important.
uhmm, while we’re at it… #Partition
Beyoncé to Remove Renaissance Lyric After Outrage: Ableist, Offensive – Variety https://t.co/DzN80FdzPB
— Monica Lewinsky (she/her) (@MonicaLewinsky) August 1, 2022
In a second tweet on Aug. 2, Lewinsky stressed that she did not contact Beyoncé personally to seek the lyrical adjustment. “No, not at all.” I did mention it in my first Vanity Fair piece in 2014, which was my first public appearance in ten years. “But you make an interesting and fair argument,” she said to someone who commented on her tweet.
Have you reached out to Beyonce or her team before you saw all the heat? I am curious.
— Jaynay C. (@JaynayChanel) August 2, 2022
“Thanks, Beyoncé,” she wrote in a 2014 Vanity Fair piece, just after the release of “Partition.” “But if we’re verbing, I assume you meant ‘Bill Clinton’d all over my gown,’ not ‘Monica Lewinsky’d,” she said in the post.
“Partition” is not the first rap song to make a reference to Monica Lewinsky. According to a 2015 The Cut story, Lewinsky was mentioned in over 40 rap songs at the time by artists such as Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, and Eminem.
Lewinsky did not dismiss the frequent allusions. She described herself as a “rap music muse” on her Twitter account. When a Twitter user asked why she put the phrase “rap song muse” in her Twitter profile in response to her Beyoncé post, she answered, “because learning to joke about things that wounded or embarrassed me is how I survived.”
Why refer to yourself as a rap song muse?
— ZemiBoriken (@ZemiBoriken) August 3, 2022
Both Lewinsky and Beyoncé’s representatives did not reply to requests for comment at the time of publishing, and Beyoncé has not publicly commented on Lewinsky’s tweet.