Sharon Osbourne is the latest star to slam John Legend for reworking the lyrics to Dean Martin's festive classic Baby, It's Cold Outside.

The duet, which was originally written by Frank Loesser in 1944, was recorded by Dean for his 1959 album A Winter's Romance, and quickly became a Christmas favourite.

However, its lyrics have caused controversy in recent years as it's been claimed they're suggestive of sexual harassment or date rape, and so John choose to use new words for his version with Kelly Clarkson for his latest Christmas album.

The decision has divided critics, with Dean's daughter Deana blasting John on U.K. breakfast show Good Morning Britain on Monday, and Sharon also slammed the All of Me singer as she reflected on the controversy on her U.S. TV show The Talk.

"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,'" she argued on Monday's episode of the programme. "It’s, to me, like a master painting. It’s a piece of art."

One of the lyric changes sees Kelly sing, "What will my friends think? If I have one more drink?", while John replies, "It’s your body, and your choice."

And that line in particular seemed to aggravate Sharon.

"To change an innocent lyric, to what is it, 'Your mind and your body?' What the hell are you on? That's ridiculous," she exclaimed. "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."

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