Canada’s public radio restores ‘Baby it’s cold outside’ after major backlash

The most talked-about holiday song is back on Canadian airwaves after a week-long hiatus that generated pitchfork wielding online outrage mobs on both sides of the debate.

Canadian public broadcaster CBC removed the 1944 Christmas classic from two playlists following the similar decisions taken by radio stations across North America.

A CBC spokesperson initially stated that the broadcaster had “no plans” to play Baby It’s Cold Outside any time soon given the public uproar over the song's lyrical content, in which a male singer tries to persuade a female visitor to stay with him despite her repeated express desire to leave.

Songwriter Frank Loesser viewed it as an endearing duet he could perform with his wife, though many seemingly viewed it as tantamount to a musical endorsement of harassment and sexual predation.

However, on Tuesday, the CBC said the decision was only temporary while it considered opinions on all sides of the issue.

“We heard from our audience in no uncertain terms,” Head of public affairs Chuck Thompson said as cited by The National Post. “Almost to a person they were asking us to reconsider.”

“We’re an audience-first organization,” Thompson added. “The audience spoke, and we listened.”

The holiday season stalwart has been recorded by artists from Ray Charles to Michael Bublé over the years, with the most famous and beloved version performed by Marilyn Maxwell and Dean Martin.

“I know my dad would be going insane right now… He would say, ‘What’s the matter with you? Get over it. It’s just a fun song.’ Because he was so sweet,” Martin’s daughter, Deana, said on FOX & Friends on December 10.

“He would never see anything bad in that. He was a great guy, fun guy, nice. And he wouldn’t want to do anything offensive; that wasn’t Dean Martin.”

Star Trek star William Shatner made the song his cause-du-jour on Twitter, calling for people to spam requests for the song all day.

Other radio stations across North America remain divided on the now-controversial song, with some maintaining the moratorium on the festive tune.

Rogers Media in Canada is sticking to its guns and will not be broadcasting the festive favorite. However KOIT, a large FM radio station in San Francisco, reinstated the song to its playlists after conducting a public opinion poll in which 77 percent of respondents said they wanted it back on the air.

“People have opinions about everything, and they definitely have an opinion about Christmas music. It’s the one thing people feel they have that we shouldn’t mess with,” the station’s Program Director, Brian Figula, said. “It’s reminiscent of when life was easy and stress-free and they didn’t have a worry."

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