Amid #MeToo, radio station nixes 'Baby, It's Cold Outside'

A radio station in Cleveland has confirmed that it will no longer play the well-known holiday song “Baby It’s Cold Outside” in the wake of the “Me Too” movement.

Star 102’s Glenn Anderson wrote about the decision, saying: “We used to play the song ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’, but you’re the Christmas Executive Officer at Star 102 and you told us it’s no longer appropriate. I gotta be honest, I didn’t understand why the lyrics were so bad…Until I read them.”

He then provided the lyrics to the duet where a woman is trying to leave a man’s house as he tries to convince her to stay.

In a call-and-response format, she sings, “I really can’t stay,” and he counters with, “Baby it’s cold outside.”

And in another part, she says, “Say, what’s in this drink?” and he responds by saying, “No cabs to be had out there.”

Though the 40’s era song was initially performed playfully by the composer and his wife, the lyrics have since taken on a darker tone given the heightened awareness surrounding consent and sexual misconduct, notes CBS News.

Anderson said as much, concluding about the tune: “Now while reading it, it seems very manipulative and wrong. 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.”