Osbourne railed against the modified re-recording of the holiday classic during Monday's 'The Talk.'
While there are mixed opinions when it comes to the lyrics of the iconic Christmas tune "Baby, It's Cold Outside," the tune still has its staunch defenders -- including Sharon Osbourne.
Following the news that John Legend and his fellow coach on The View, Kelly Clarkson, were working on an update to the holiday tune -- which was first written back by Frank Loesser in 1944 -- Osbourne spoke out against the decision to update the tune.
"What would John Legend do, if in 40 years, if somebody wanted to… re-record 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,'" Osbourne, 67, said during an episode of The Talk on Monday.
"It’s, to me, like a master painting," Osbourne argued. "It’s a piece of art."
According to a sample of the song released by Legend and Clarkson, the lyrics of the original tune -- which present a story of a persistent male suitor trying to convince a reluctant woman to spend the night at his house -- were updated due to the backlash tying the implications of the song to the #MeToo Movement.
Their new version includes a line in which Clarkson sings, "What will my friends think? If I have one more drink?" to which Legend replies, "It’s your body, and your choice."
Osbourne seemed to call this lyric out specifically in her response to the remake of the tune.
"To change an innocent lyric, to what is it, 'Your mind and your body?' What the hell are you on? That's ridiculous," she passionately declared. "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 concluded.
Her sentiments were mirrored by Deana Martin -- the daughter of the late crooner Dean Martin, whose 1959 version of the tune, featuring a female chorus singing the other half of the duet, is considered to be one of the most famous iterations.
Deana called Legend's changes "absolutely absurd" while sitting down on Good Morning Britain recently.
"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 argued, adding, "He’s made it more sexual with those words that he has just said."
Legend, who co-wrote the updated lyrics with Natasha Rothwell, recorded the tune for his upcoming Christmas album.
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