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Radio Hosts Suspended After Calling Whitney Houston 'Crack Ho', 'Bag Lady'

LOS ANGELES (CBS) – Two of the Southland's most outspoken radio personalities will go silent all next week after making controversial remarks about the passing of Whitney Houston.

KFI AM 640 suspended John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou, the hosts of the "John and Ken Show," for "making insensitive and inappropriate comments about the late Whitney Houston," it said in a statement Thursday.

"Management does not condone, support or tolerate statements of this kind," the station said.

According to audio posted online at UrbanInformer.com, the hosts called the late singer a "crack ho" who was "cracked out for 20 years" and left looking like a "bag lady" after she "blew through" her fortune.

The popular on-air duo even asked "It took this long?" when discussing her untimely death.

Kobylt said in statement that he and Chiampou "used language that was inappropriate" and they "sincerely apologize" to their listeners and to Houston's family.

"We made a mistake, and we accept the station's decision," said Kobylt.

The hosts, who broadcast their show weekday afternoons, will return to the airwaves Feb. 27.

Kobylt and Chiampou often rail against taxes and illegal immigration. The National Hispanic Media Coalition said last year that it targeted the show's advertisers to urge them to stop backing the program.

The group said the hosts promote hate speech and appealed to listeners to call and harass an advocate for immigrant rights about state legislation to give financial aid to illegal immigrant college students.

"A temporary suspension is not enough," Alex Nogales, president and CEO of NHMC, said in a statement. "How many times do John and Ken get to spew their hate, apologize and then do it again after taking off a long weekend? KFI must permanently remove John and Ken from the air. Los Angeles deserves better."

The pair will be off the air until Feb. 27.

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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