LOS ANGELES - It's that time of year when radio stations across the United States are playing Christmas music nonstop. But one classic holiday song is proving too controversial for some stations in the wake of the #MeToo movement.
"Baby, It's Cold Outside" -- a duet written in 1944 and performed over the years by scores of artists, including Dean Martin, Dolly Parton, Ray Charles and Lady Gaga -- has turned into a hot potato for broadcasters, some of which have yanked the popular song on grounds the lyrics are predatory toward women.
A radio station in the state of Ohio was first to announce it was pulling the song from its playlist last weekend after receiving complaints.
Several other stations across the country -- and even in Canada -- have followed suit.
Controversy over the song has existed for years but it has notched up a level this year because of the #MeToo movement that began in the United States more than a year ago in response to accusations of sexual abuse and harassment by powerful men in the entertainment industry and other sectors.
Some people have taken issue with the lyrics in the duet where a man is trying to persuade his lady friend to spend the night.
The exchanges include "Say, what's in this drink?," "Baby, don't hold out" and "I ought to say no, no, no sir..." -- lyrics that some say seem "rapey."
Broadway songwriter Frank Loesser penned the song in 1944 and it won an Academy Award in 1950 for best original song in the film "Neptune's Daughter," where it was sung by Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalban.
Other artists over the years have performed the song which has become a classic holiday tune.
'MANIPULATIVE AND WRONG'
Critics say while the song may have not sounded offensive when it was written in 1944, it no longer belongs on the airwaves today and was an ode to sexual assault.
"Now, 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," Glenn Anderson, one of the hosts of the Ohio radio station WDOK that banned the song, said in a statement.
"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."
The radio station, which exclusively plays Christmas music during the holiday season, said a poll showed a majority of listeners were in favor of removing the song from the station's playlist.
A similar decision by a radio station in Colorado didn't sit well with outraged listeners who voted it back on the airwaves.
KOSI said Tuesday that the jingle would return to the airwaves after an online poll generated more than 15,000 responses, with 95 percent of them in favor of keeping the song.
"While we are sensitive to those who may be upset by some of the lyrics, the majority of our listeners have expressed their interpretation of the song to be non-offensive," the station's program director, Jim Lawson, said in a statement.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein on Tuesday pleaded not guilty in a New York courtroom to rape and sexual assault charges related to crimes allegedly committed against two women.
The 66-year-old producer, whose career imploded in a blaze of accusations of sexual misconduct and abuse from dozens of women that triggered the global #MeToo movement, could face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
Weinstein, who appeared in court in a dark blazer, jeans and a tie, uttered only a few words at the arraignment hearing.
"Not guilty," he said in a barely audible voice when asked for his plea. He also replied "Yes" several times as the judge reiterated the conditions of his monitored release.
Weinstein, the onetime Tinseltown powerbroker whose films earned dozens of Oscars, was charged with rape and another sex crime in New York late last month, nearly eight months after the first public allegations against him surfaced.
The twice-married father of five has been indicted for allegedly forcing a woman to perform oral sex on him in 2004, and for allegedly raping another at a Manhattan hotel in 2013.
But since October, nearly 100 women have said they were harassed or sexually abused by Weinstein over a period of more than two decades.
Salma Hayek, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie are among more than two dozen actresses who say they were sexually harassed by the producer. A few, including Asia Argento and Rose McGowan, say they were raped.
The #MeToo movement has seen people around the world come forward with cases of sexual mistreatment, leading to the downfall of powerful men across industries, including Oscar winner Kevin Spacey.
Weinstein has steadfastly denied all accusations of nonconsensual sex.
He has reportedly spent months in treatment for sex addiction. His fashion designer wife, Georgina Chapman, has left him.
- Charges -
Benjamin Brafman, Weinstein's lawyer and one of America's most celebrated criminal defense attorneys, did most of the talking for the mogul at his hearing Tuesday.
Brafman says the rape complaint came from a woman who had a 10-year affair with Weinstein, but the information was not confirmed.
The accusation of forced oral sex comes from Lucia Evans, a marketing consultant who, in 2004, was an aspiring actress. She told her story in October to The New Yorker.
Evans says Weinstein spoke to her of a possible role as a model on television reality show "Project Runway," before forcing her into oral sex.
Weinstein remains free, having posted $1 million bail. He is wearing a GPS monitoring device, and his travel is restricted to the states of New York and Connecticut.
- New lawsuits -
Weinstein already faces a slew of civil lawsuits, is reportedly under federal investigation, and his former studio has filed for bankruptcy.
He is also under criminal investigation in London and Los Angeles, but the criminal charges in New York were the first to be lodged.
Last week, three actresses filed a new lawsuit against Weinstein alleging sexual assault. They urged other victims to come forward and join the complaint.
Melissa Thompson, one of the women filing the class action lawsuit, said she was sexually assaulted by Weinstein during a 2011 meeting to discuss a new marketing tool.
Following public revelations last year about his predatory behavior, Thompson said she was referred to Brafman and another attorney at his firm, Alex Spiro.
"Thompson was led to believe that Brafman and Spiro were representing victims against Weinstein," said the law firm representing her, Hagens Berman.
"Deceptive tactics were used to entice her to turn over her visual and audio evidence of Weinstein's conduct (which she did)," it said.
"Melissa did not learn that Brafman was actually then or would later be Weinstein's lead criminal defense attorney until after turning over the video as evidence."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
