Dean Martin's daughter slams John Legend's 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' remake: 'Absolutely absurd'
John Legend’s new take on “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” — which he sings with Kelly Clarkson on his upcoming Christmas album — has been met with complaints by some that he’s ruined the holiday classic by including fresh lyrics to emphasize consent. Now Dean Martin’s daughter is joining the fray.
Deana Martin, the daughter of the late Rat Pack star whose 1959 version of the song is arguably its most famous, appeared on Good Morning Britain on Monday to slam Legend and Clarkson’s update. Following complaints last year that the song, written in 1944, promoted date rape and sexual harassment — with some radio stations banning it from their holiday playlists — Legend and Insecure star Natasha Rothwell added lyrics like, “It’s your body, and your choice.” Legend’s male protagonist is also more receptive to his date’s protests, offering to call her a ride home.
Those are changes that Martin calls “absolutely absurd.” Speaking to Good Morning Britain hosts Susanna Reid and an outraged Piers Morgan — who accused Legend of targeting her dad — the 71-year-old singer and actress voiced her objection to the remake.
“You do not change the lyrics to the song,” said Martin, whose live interview was plagued by technical difficulties. “He’s made it more sexual with those words that he has just said.
“He’s stealing the thunder from Frank Loesser’s song and from my dad. He should write his own song if he doesn’t like this one, but don’t change the lyrics. It’s a classic, perfect song.”
She added that her dad “didn’t care about things like that” and would have found the controversy “absurd.”
“John should have just left it alone,” she added, though she clarified elsewhere in the interview that she finds Legend to be a “fantastic” and “magical” talent.
Morgan, meanwhile, said that the new version “trivializes” the #MeToo movement, and lashed out at Legend for not rewriting “far more incendiary and far more woman-hating” lyrics in rap songs.
“He won’t touch the rap stuff because they’re his mates,” the talk show host claimed.
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