US radio hosts suspended over Houston ‘crack’ jibe

Dated February 12, 2011 filed photo shows US singer Whitney Houston performing onstage during the 2011 Pre-Grammy Gala & Salute to Industry Icons, with Clive Davis Honoring David Geffen at the Beverly Hilton, Beverly Hill. Houston, who dominated the US music scene in the 1980s and '90s, was found dead Saturday in a Beverly Hills hotel. She was 48. AFP FILE PHOTO

LOS ANGELES – Two popular radio presenters in Los Angeles were suspended Thursday for derogatory comments about Whitney Houston in a live discussion about her death.

John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou, afternoon talk show hosts on KFI-AM radio, were ordered off-air until February 27 after calling Houston a “crack ho.”

The two radio presenters “have been suspended for making insensitive and inappropriate comments about the late Whitney Houston. Management does not condone, support or tolerate statements of this kind,” said a statement by the station.

Houston, who possessed one of the greatest-ever singing voices and sold more than 170 million records, fought a long and public battle with substance abuse after her career and personal life went off the rails.

During an on air discussion about the 48-year-old singer’s death last Saturday, Kobylt said Houston’s friends and associates all knew of her drug problem.

Cited in the radio station statement, Kobylt said: “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.”

Houston was found unconscious in her bathtub on Saturday afternoon at the Los Angeles Beverly Hilton hotel as preparations were under way for the Grammy Awards, the highlight of the music industry calendar.

Houston’s funeral will be broadcast live from the New Jersey Baptist church where she grew up singing in a gospel choir.