US radio stations pull 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' in wake of #MeToo

It's that time of year when radio stations across the United States are playing Christmas music nonstop. But one classic holiday song is proving too controversial for some stations in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

"Baby, It's Cold Outside" -- a duet written in 1944 and performed over the years by scores of artists, including Dean Martin, Dolly Parton, Ray Charles and Lady Gaga -- has turned into a hot potato for broadcasters, some of which have yanked the popular song on grounds the lyrics are predatory toward women.

A radio station in the state of Ohio was first to announce it was pulling the song from its playlist last weekend after receiving complaints.

Several other stations across the country -- and even in Canada -- have followed suit. Controversy over the song has existed for years but it has notched up a level this year because of the #MeToo movement that began in the United States more than a year ago in response to accusations of sexual abuse and harassment by powerful men in the entertainment industry and other sectors.

Some people have taken issue with the lyrics in the duet where a man is trying to persuade his lady friend to spend the night.

The exchanges include "Say, what's in this drink?," "Baby, don't hold out" and "I ought to say no, no, no sir..." -- lyrics that some say seem "rapey."
"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."