UPDATE: 9 p.m.Jesus Christ Himself–or rather, Neil Saavedra, the half-wab who's the director of marketing for KFI, the host of the wildly popular Jesus Christ Show every Sunday morning, and someone I consider a professional, if not personal, friend, responds exclusively to the Weekly:
I wanted you to know we are meeting with representatives from the Latino community (LULAC, Latino Business Association among others) we just are not meeting with Alex Nogales. We agreed to meet with Mr. Nogales and then he went on a media tour last Friday telling everyone John and Ken must be fired, “non-negotiable”…not exactly a good place to start.
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Take Neil's words, and then apply them to the unsigned letter KFI published today regarding the boycott led by the National Hispanic Media Coalition of JohnKen.
“The station wants to be sure that there are no misunderstandings between us and LA's important, vibrant and diverse Latino community,” the letter reads. “We are meeting with a larger, more representative group of local Latino leaders-including representatives of LULAC, the nation's oldest and largest Hispanic Civil Rights organization, the Latin Business Association, the nation's largest Hispanic business group, and others- to have an open, fruitful discussion about any concerns they may have.”
Um, LULAC is as Aztlanista as NHMC, guys. And “Latin Business Association”? Never heard of them, and they have as much cachet among Mexis as Nativo Lopez. Here's the skinny, guys: the non-vendido Latinos in Southern California DESPISE JohnKen. They're bigots, plain and simple. Coast to Coast AM? We love it. Handel? Awesome, since he insults everyone. Bill Carroll? We're all at work during his time, so none of us know who he is. Conway? Okay, we love “What the Hell did Jesse Jackson Say?,” but that's because we fuck with negritos as much as ustedes. But JohnKen? They hate Mexis and Mexis alone–don't make me comb through the hours (since I, like few non-vendido Mexis, actually listen to the guys religiously because, outside of their racialist politics, they're almost always spot-on) and show the world their bigotry.
My advice? Don't toy with Mexis. Either ignore us, or attack us–but don't patronize us, because hell hath no fury like a bunch of wabs scorned…
UPDATE, Oct. 6, 5 p.m.: Boycott on! After getting their scheduled
meeting with KFI brass canceled today, the National Hispanic Media
Coalition has officially launched a “Take John and Ken off the Air”
campaign. Fun times!
“This cancellation is only one incident in
Clear Channel and KFI's disappointing pattern of disregard for the
Latino community,” wrote NHMC head Alex Nogales in a just-issued press
release.” Clear Channel and KFI have proven that they are hate
profiteers.
“Their refusal to face the music regarding John and Ken's egregious
behavior shows us that they are not concerned with the people they harm
but only their bottom line. This is not the kind of response we would
expect from responsible broadcasters. By their actions, Clear Channel
and KFI have sent a strong message – they have blessed John and Ken's
hate-filled rants while at the same time demonstrated their complete
disregard to serving the Los Angeles community,”
More–much more–after I go get some Manhattans in me at Memphis…
Original Post, Oct. 1, 8:33 a.m.: When I heard through the Reconquista grapevine a couple of weeks back that the National Hispanic Media Coalition and other Latino groups were planning to announce an advertiser boycott of KFI-AM 640's John and Ken Show
for their Mexican-hating ways and call for their removal, I felt bad
for the groups, for the unholy backlash they would surely receive from
hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou. Those Latino groups do good work,
and are too dignified to engage in the bare-knuckles nastiness for which
JohnKen are infamous.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the sewer: JohKen are running scared, like the cowering pendejos they are.
The issue that triggered everything is actually old news: early last month, JohnKen read on-air the cell phone number of Jorge-Mario Cabrera, an activist with the Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), which they obtained from a CHIRLA press release. Of course, their minions flooded Cabrera's phone with nasty messages, and Latino activists in Southern California reacted with horror, even though JohnKen had done THE EXACT SAME STUNT–to a female UCLA student, no less–last year. Why CHIRLA, the NHMC and others are just acting now against JohnKen is beyond me–but that's not the purpose of this post.
JohnKen's reaction to the threat of boycott and calls for resignation has been amazing, but true: instead of laughing off the attempt, as they usually do when receiving any criticism, they immediately went on the retreating offensive, performing the radio equivalent of a backtracking, yapping Chihuahua. Yesterday on their show, instead of brushing off the NHMC, JohnKen accused THEM of racism–you know, because they're Hispanic and unite around ethnicity. Hey, dipshits: if Latino activists don't unite against racist depictions of Latinos in the media, who will? Last night, on the 10 o'clock news (I believe it was KTLA-TV Channel 5), Kobylt looked like a man spooked when he was claiming that those groups wanted to suppress his right to act like a blubbering fool. That's not true, son: if they really wanted to target people simply for being stupid, they would've gone after Hugh Hewitt a long time ago.
Even funnier, though, was a letter the two wrote to the Los Angeles Times–a paper they constantly ridicule as irrelevant–that was published yesterday, in which they claimed unfair treatment at the hands of the Times and activists.
“The reporter writes: 'While illegal
immigration has long been a particular focus of the show, it's only one
of several favorite targets–the hosts have railed against taxes, labor
unions and other pet causes for years with equally incendiary
rhetoric,'” the two wrote in their letter. “What incendiary rhetoric? Not a single example is cited …
because there aren't any to cite.“
¡No mamen, pendejos! JohnKen claiming they've never engaged in “incendiary rhetoric” is like Mike Carona claiming he never had an affair. For a good year on my own KPFK-FM 90.7 show, we'd run a weekly “John and Ken Moment of Hate” in which we repeated the most vile accusation of the week; if I had had a daily program, it would've been a daily segment, given the amount of material available. JohnKen have been treating Mexican culture as their personal chamber pot for years, increasing the shit they dump on it with each passing month, none more vile than when they specifically blamed Mexican culture for the horrific Dodgers Stadium beating earlier this year, and Kobylt in particular stated “if [Mexicans] have to kill us along the way” of Reconquista “they will.” That's the whole schtick of their show–or is the “Heads on a Stick” campaign just a valentine to Democrats? Hey: maybe I should restart the “John and Ken Moment of Hate” on this infernal blog…but I digress.
The funniest reaction, though, has been from KFI brass. Not only will they meet with the complaining Mexis (THAT should go well), but KFI market manager Greg Ashlock wrote a letter to NHMC president Alex Nogales on Sept. 28 that tried to paint JohnKen as good guys, because “they are deeply committed and engaged in supporting important and necessary causes in the community such as the annual Multiple Sclerosis Bike Ride and the Salvation Army.” Tee-hee! That's the same type of red-herring fluff JohnKen rightfully ridicule others for using–and now they're using the same card. HILARIOUS! How long until JohnKen claim they're not anti-Mexican and trot out their producer, Ray Lopez, or any other of the more-than-a-few Latinos that work at the station?
I doubt any proposed boycott will work–if anything, it'll further antagonize the JohnKen nation toward hating Mexicans. But I nevertheless congratulate Nogales, Cabrera, and the other groups involved for finally showing the world what JohnKen truly are: the radio equivalent of Biff from Back in the Future. Have fun!
And now, for the requisite full disclosures: the NHMC once gave me an award, and KFI once gave me a paycheck for guest-hosting, a gig that went so well they never invited me back. It's all good.
I knew KFI was con artist corrupt consummate snake oil sales people who truly seriously only care about their wealthy greedy bottom line and themselves!!!!