Canadian radio stations remove 'Baby It's Cold Outside' from airplay

Canadian radio stations remove 'Baby It's Cold Outside' from holiday airplay

A clip of "Baby It's Cold Outside" performed in the 1949 romanic comedy, Neptune's daughter.

What was once considered a classic holiday tune is now being pulled from Canadian airwaves for its controversial lyrics.

A number of media companies have confirmed that they’ve removed “Baby It’s Cold Outside” from the rotation of holiday songs on their respective stations.

Bell Media and CBC Radio are two of the companies making the move.

“Like other radio stations in Canada and the US, we’re not playing ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ because of the concerns about its lyrics,” comments Bell Media’s Scott Henderson. “The song wasn’t scheduled for airplay on any Bell Media Radio stations and there are no plans to play it in the future. ”

“The reality is it’s a 70-year-old song that was rarely played on our stations even during the holidays,” he adds.

Chuck Thompson of CBC Radio shares that their stations have been following a similar sentiment.

“While we consider both points of view in a thoughtful way, in light of the times we are living in, we have chosen to remove the song, for the time being, from two of our holiday music streams,” says Thompson.

He clarifies, however, that “song lyrics are always open to interpretation and fully acknowledges… different opinions pertaining to the song.”

More than 70 years old, “Baby It’s Cold Outside” was originally written in 1944 by the late Frank Loesser. It was also used in the 1949 film Neptune’s Daughter.

Many of its lyrics, such as “Say what’s in this drink?” or “Baby don’t hold out,” are being challenged for having suggestive and inappropriate themes.

In addition to winning “Best Original Song” during the 22nd Academy Awards, the song has been covered heavily in more recent times by the likes of Idina Menzel and Michael Buble, as well as Lady Gaga and Joseph Gorden-Levitt, to name a few artists.

Some of covers involve the singers switching roles.

Daily Hive has also reached out to Rogers Media and is awaiting a response.

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