On Friday, KFI radio hosts John & Ken apologized for referring to Whitney Houston as a "crack hoe." John Chester Kobylt and Kenneth Robertson Chiampou host "The John and Ken Show," on KFI AM 640 in Southern California. Their show is the nation’s most listened to local talk radio program.
"It’s like, ‘Ah Jesus . . . here comes the crack ho again, what’s she gonna do?" the radio DJs said on Saturday’s show. They went on to say Houston was "cracked out for 20 years."
"We made a mistake, and we accept the station’s decision. We used language that was inappropriate, and we sincerely apologize to our listeners and to the family of Ms. Houston," John Kobylt said in a statement published on their website.
KFI AM 640, a Clear Channel Communications radio station, has suspended the hosts until February 27, 2012.
John & Ken, as the duo are recognized professionally, have a long history of controversial comments.
"They blame us [immigrants] for all that is wrong in education, all that is wrong in the economy, all that is wrong with security in this country," Alex Nogales, president of the National Hispanic Media Coalition told Univision last year after John & Ken broadcasted the cell phone number of a communications associate working with CHIRLA, an immigrants rights coalition.
In 2006, John & Ken started a campaign that resulted in hundreds of toilet brushes in Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s office after the mayor said immigrants "come here to work: We clean your toilets. We clean your hotels. We build your houses."
Most recently, on a show broadcasted on January 5th, John & Ken discussed unethical business practices which included statements about Korean American painters as "scam guys" who seek to "rip people off."
CHIRLA and the communications associate who’s contact information was shared by John & Ken issued a statement this morning. It’s published in it’s entirety below:
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles applauds KFI’s decision to temporarily suspend John & Ken for, once again, spreading insults and hate. Their distasteful, inappropriate and offensive diatribes know no bounds. We call on KFI to consider suspending these two traffickers of hate indefinitely. We also call on KTLA TV 5 to remove this objectionable pair from the station’s daily programming. Multicultural Los Angeles deserves better than John and Ken.