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Radio station pulls 'Baby It's Cold Outside' citing #MeToo backlash

A 1944 Christmas song is causing controversy in the US.

Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalbán sing Baby It's Cold Outside.

Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalbán sing Baby It's Cold Outside. Source: CBS News

A US radio station has pulled Christmas song Baby It's Cold Outside following complaints that its lyrics sent the wrong message in the #MeToo era.

Star 102 in Cleveland, Ohio made the move following several complaints from listeners.

Glenn Anderson, a host at the station, said that the lyrics felt "manipulative and wrong" and Ohioans had "told us it's no longer appropriate".

"The world we live in is extra sensitive now, and people get easily offended, but in a world where #MeToo has finally given women the voice they deserve, the song has no place," he said in an online post.

Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalbán's in a 1949 version of the song.
Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalbán's in a 1949 version of the song. Source: CBS News

The song was written in 1944 and has been covered by several artists including Lady Gaga, Michael Bublé and Tom Jones.

It involves a conversation where a man tries to persuade a woman to stay with him instead of braving the cold Christmas weather.

"I simply must go [but baby it's cold outside] ... The answer is no [but baby it's cold outside]," the lyrics say.

Some of the woman's lines include "I ought to say no, no, no" and "say, what's in this drink?", while the man keeps asking her to stay.

But a Star 102 poll showed the song still had significant support.

The song rose to fame when it was used in the 1949 film Neptune's Daughter.


2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: SBS



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