John Legend, Kelly Clarkson Record New, Less Controversial ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’
John Legend and Kelly Clarkson have teamed for a new recording of "Baby, It's Cold Outside," and they've changed the controversial lyrics that got the song pulled from playlists in the wake of the #MeToo movement.
The two coaches on The Voice joined together for a new version of the holiday classic that will appear on Legend's forthcoming album, Vanity Fair reports. The new rendition re-slants the original lyrics, which have come under fire in recent years for what's now seen as a sexist and faintly menacing tone for lines including, "Say, what's in this drink?"
According to People, the new lyrics read, “I really can’t stay (Baby it’s cold outside)/ I’ve gotta go away (I can call you a ride)/ This evening has been (so glad that you dropped in)/ So very nice (time spent with you is paradise)/ My mother will start to worry (I’ll call a car and tell ’em to hurry).”
The track is set to appear on the expanded version of Legend's Christmas album, A Legendary Christmas: The Deluxe Edition, which is set for release on Nov. 8.
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People reports that songwriter Frank Loesser wrote the song as a duet to perform with his wife at parties. Loesser's daughter, Susan, says "Bill Cosby ruined it for everybody," due to multiple accusations from women who have alleged that he drugged and raped them over a period of decades. Cosby is currently serving 3-10 years in prison for aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004, according to CNN.
“Way before #MeToo, I would hear from time to time people call it a date rape song. I would get annoyed because it’s a song my father wrote for him and my mother to sing at parties," Loesser tells NBC News. "But ever since Cosby was accused of drugging women, I hear the date rape thing all the time."
Legend and Clarkson worked with Insecure writer and star Natasha Rothwell to update the lyrics to the holiday classic.
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