Yesterday, the New York Daily News reported that the Yankees were replacing a 1939 recording of “God Bless America” by Kate Smith. I outlined the overtly racist lyrics and pointed out the issues they presented to the Flyers’ long-standing affiliation with Smith. Despite not having heard a single rendition of “God Bless America” at any Flyers game this season, I wondered aloud what might come of the statue found outside of Xfinity Live! and whether or not the Flyers would address the scandal.

Today they did just that:

Statement:

“We have recently become aware that several songs performed by Kate Smith contain offensive lyrics that do not reflect our values as an organization. As we continue to look into this serious matter, we are removing Kate Smith’s recording of ‘God Bless America’ from our library and covering up the statue that stands outside of our arena.” – The Philadelphia Flyers

And the statue?

No word on if/when the statue will be removed, but you have to think the Flyers – having only hours earlier presented new head coach Alain Vigneault to the media – were not expecting to have to handle this kind of PR nightmare.