John Legend Responds To Controversy About His Updated ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ Lyrics

The time for Christmas music is officially upon us and John Legend is causing some major drama with his latest release. On November 8th, he released a duet with Kelly Clarkson of the classic Christmas song "Baby It's Cold Outside." However, he changed up some of the problematic lyrics and some people are not happy about it.

Last year, the original song caused controversy after the #MeToo movement with people claiming the lyrics described nonconsensual behavior. Legend's version with Clarkson has new lyrics that are an attempt at modernizing the song to be acceptable for today's society.

Instead of lyrics like "say, what's in this drink? (No cab's to be had out there)" and "I ought to say, "No, no, no, sir" (Mind if I move in closer?)" they're more consensual. Legend's lyrics include "What will my friends think? (Well, I think they should rejoice) If I have one more drink? (It's your body and your choice.)"

Many people were upset with his choice to change the lyrics to the song, including The Talk host Sharon Osbourne. She says Legend had no right to change the lyrics on a classic.

"What would John Legend do, if in 40 years, if somebody wanted to… rerecord one of his songs, and there was some group that found it offensive, and somebody just went, 'Oh, I can change the lyrics on that.' It's, to me, like a master painting. It’s a piece of art," said Osbourne.

"I have to tell you, I love John Legend. I love John Legend's wife, his family. He’s an amazing artist that I really respect. Why do you do this? That's not right. The thing is, if you don’t like the song, don’t record it," she continued.

Legend took to his social media to promote the song and seemed to reply to all of the negative comments he was receiving.

"NEW VERSION of #BabyItsColdOutside! A welcome update or "PC Culture run amok & destroying everything great in the history of music?" (🙄) You decide. Check out my new track w/ @kellyclarkson!" Legend wrote on Twitter. Do you think it was the right move to change the lyrics and rerecord, or should he have just let the song die?