Radio station stops playing 'Baby It's Cold Outside' because 'it's no longer appropriate'

Kerry Justich
·Health and Wellness Staff Writer
Cleveland’s Star 102 stopped playing “Baby It’s Cold Outside” because of the #MeToo movement. (Photo: Getty Images)
Cleveland’s Star 102 stopped playing “Baby It’s Cold Outside” because of the #MeToo movement. (Photo: Getty Images)

Local radio stations across the country have officially started to air their Christmas playlists as the holiday quickly approaches. But when it comes to Cleveland’s Star 102’s festive lineup, one classic won’t be heard as a result of the #MeToo movement.

“Baby It’s Cold Outside” may have been a fan favorite in the past. However, after one listener called in to flag the song’s lyrics, the station’s emcees realized that there may not be a place for the “manipulative” connotations of the song in 2018.

Written in 1944, the song’s lyrics detail an interaction between a man and a woman, when the woman expresses her desire to leave his house, and he lures her to stay.

“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,” employee Glenn Anderson wrote on the station’s site. “I gotta be honest, I didn’t understand why the lyrics were so bad…Until I read them.”

The station put all of the lyrics on its site alongside a poll to let listeners decide whether the station should continue to play the song or not.

Just one verse says:

I ought to say no, no, no — Mind if I move in closer?
At least I’m gonna say that I tried — What’s the sense in hurting my pride?
I really can’t stay — Baby don’t hold out
Ah, but it’s cold outside

Ultimately, most of the station’s listeners decided to give it the boot. And although not everybody is happy about the decision, it turns out that many also predicted it.

Representatives from Star 102 have yet respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment. However, on-air personality Desiray told Fox 8, “People might say, ‘Oh, enough with that #MeToo,’ but if you really put that aside and listen to the lyrics, it’s not something I would want my daughter to be in that kind of a situation.” She added, “The tune might be catchy, but let’s maybe not promote that sort of an idea.”

Fox 8 also reports that Cleveland Rape Crisis Center President and CEO Sondra Miller supports the decision, making it seem likely that other stations might follow suit.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

• Melania Trump shares controversial #MeToo take: ‘I do stand with women, but we need to show the evidence’
• Stormy Daniels insists she’s not a feminist: ‘I feel sorry for men right now’
• Teen athlete challenges high school’s dress code because he wants the right to train shirtless

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