A Cleveland radio station will stop playing the 1944 classic 鈥淏aby, it鈥檚 Cold Outside鈥� citing the MeToo movement and how it could be problematic.
Station WDOK Christmas 102.1 is pulling the song after a listener called into the station to bring up how the song could be seen as problematic in this day and age.
The station鈥檚 midday host Desiray told on Thursday that the move was out of her hands because the song lineup is chosen by listeners: 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 really our decision. It鈥檚 the decision of our listeners.鈥�
The MeToo movement, which began from sexual misconduct by film producer , has led to scores of women accusing powerful figures of assaults and harassment.
But since 2017, the movement has sparked a debate on sexual harassment, consent and rape culture and caused people to re-evaluate films, TV shows and even songs like 鈥淏aby, It鈥檚 Cold Outside.鈥�
In the song, the female singer sings 鈥淚 really can鈥檛 stay,鈥� to which the male responds, 鈥渂ut baby, it鈥檚 cold outside鈥� and 鈥淏eautiful, what鈥檚 your hurry?鈥� Some of the more problematic lyrics include 鈥淢y mother will start to worry,鈥� 鈥淚 ought to say no, no, no鈥� and 鈥�"What's in this drink?"
The station鈥檚 afternoon host Glenn Anderson admitted in a that he initially didn鈥檛 understand how the lines could be an issue 鈥渦ntil I read them.鈥�
鈥淣ow, I do realize that when the song was written in 1944, it was a different time, but now while reading it, it seems very manipulative and wrong,鈥� Anderson wrote, adding 鈥渢he world we live in is extra sensitive now.鈥�
鈥淧eople get easily offended, but in a world where MeToo has finally given women the voice they deserve, the song has no place.鈥�
The duet was written by American songwriter Frank Loesser who sang it with his wife, Lynn Garland, for friends at dinner parties. After years of performing the song, he sold the song to MGM studios which used the song in the 1949 romantic comedy 鈥淣eptune's Daughter.鈥�
Although it was first sung professionally in that film by singers Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalbán, it has been covered by numerous singers like Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Ray Charles, Bette Midler, Dolly Parton, Dean Martin, Kelly Clarkson, and Cee Lo Green. In 2014, Canadian singer Michael Bublé sang the song with Broadway star Idina Menzel.
A spokesperson for the radio station was unavailable for comment on Saturday and couldn鈥檛 specify if it wouldn鈥檛 play the 1949 version or all covers of the song.
On Wednesday, the asklng readers to vote on whether they felt the song was a "classic" tune or an "inappropriate" one. As of Sunday morning, 94 per cent of the over 6,500 votes have called it a classic.
Since the news broke of the station鈥檚 decision, comments have been flooding onto the station鈥檚 Facebook page with people weighing in on both sides of the debate.
