“Baby It’s Cold Outside” Banned By Radio Stations

Does the holiday tune celebrate sexism?

baby it's cold outside
Songwriter Frank Loesser (R) and wife singing. (Photo by John Swope/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)

Radio stations in Ohio, Colorado, and California have pulled the plug on a longtime Christmas classic song, “Baby It’s Cold Outside.”

In the era of #MeToo, the song, which was written in 1944 and won an Oscar in 1949 for best original song, doesn’t seem to have a place. Lyrics like “I’ve got to go away … Hey, what’s in this drink?” and, “The answer is no” send a pretty clear message to the female singer’s male advancer.

NPR reports that Cleveland station WDOK yanked the song from rotation, explaining their decision through a note on their site: “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,” host Glenn Anderson wrote. “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.”

Some listeners are upset and want their holiday cheer- no matter the sexual innuendo. Several stations have posted polls asking listeners for their opinion. KOSI in Denver saw that an overwhelming number of listeners favored the tune and wanted it back in rotation.

In San Francisco, Brian Figula, program director of KOIT has received hundreds of emails demanding the song’s return. Figula told NPR that he never expected the “tornado” that came along with the musical cut.

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