Human Events Removes Racist Song, Apologizes to José Feliciano

It looks like singer José Feliciano, who composed and sang the song "Feliz Navidad," was not pleased with the fact that "The Fox and Rice Experience" had turned it turned into the offensively racist "Illegals In My Yard" earlier this month on Human Events, and now the song has been removed and Human Events has apologized:

Grammy-winner Jose Feliciano has gotten an apology after accusing a pair of radio producers of trashing the spirit of Christmas by using his popular holiday song, "Feliz Navidad," for a racist musical spoof about undocumented immigrants.

Feliciano released a statement Wednesday saying that he was "revolted beyond words" and that the song was never meant to be "a vehicle for a political platform of racism and hate."

"When I wrote and composed 'Feliz Navidad,' I chose to sing in both English and Spanish in order to create a bridge between two wonderful cultures during the time of year in which we hope for goodwill toward all," the Puerto Rico-born singer said.

The parody, titled "The Illegal Alien Christmas Song," was created by radio producers and writers Matt Fox and A.J. Rice and was posted in mid-December on the Web site for Human Events, a Washington-based conservative weekly publication founded in 1944.

Web site editor Jed Babbin apologized Wednesday and said the song would be removed from the site. The link to the song's page was no longer available by Thursday.

"We regret any offense that Mr. Feliciano may have taken from this parody," Babbin said in an e-mail sent to The Associated Press.

Interestingly, while the page on Human Events website has been removed, the embeddable audio clip has not: