John and Ken Apologize to Jorge-Mario Cabrera

John Kobylt and Kenneth Chiampou apologized to Jorge-Mario Cabrera Monday on KFI for giving out his cellphone number on-air. "We have been trying to tell Jorge that we here at the John and Ken show, we apologize for the hateful or any illegal calls that he received," Kobylt said. "We’ve tried to contact him in person. In fact, I called him last week, got his voicemail. He hasn’t called back." As a result of John and Ken's actions against Cabrera, the National Hispanic Media Coalition launched an economic boycott earlier this month against KFI. NHMC director of communications Rosalia Tenorio told FishbowlLA the organizations and its allies (LULAC, NCLR, and CHIRLA) "will not settle for nothing less than John and Ken's dismissal from KFI." Along with the apology, KFI released a statement in hopes of setting the record straight regarding the NHMC boycott. After the jump is KFI's statement: The National Hispanic Media Coalition has embarked on a campaign to censor John and Ken that is based on misleading and false statements. We want to set the record straight: --John and Ken are being attacked by the NHMC because of their outspoken opposition to the California Dream Act. Not only is this an issue over which reasonable people disagree, it is also one that sparks strong feelings. Taking a stand is their job – and their right in a democracy like ours. Their opposition to the Dream Act is not "hate speech," it is protected speech. --Jorge-Mario Cabrera’s cell number that was broadcast is not a private number – it is a business number regularly used by Mr. Cabrera on press releases and other materials sent to the media, including to KFI’s news room. --In fact, the press release that falsely accuses John and Ken of violating Mr. Cabrera's "privacy rights" includes this same cell phone number, the same one John and Ken read on the air, as the contact number. --It is false that John and Ken have "incited violence and threats against" Mr. Cabrera. --CHIRLA claims its staff was "terrorized" and that it "received over 430 abusive and threatening calls." We are unaware if a police report was filed, or if anything was done about these threats other than to use them as a publicity tactic. --John and Ken have repeatedly and publicly condemned listener calls that are abusive or threatening. --NHMC’s Alex Nogales, who is driving the boycott of KFI, has consistently misstated the facts. He says KFI refuses to meet with his ORGANIZATION. False. In fact, KFI met with a representative of NHMC and other leaders of the Latino community on Thursday October 13th. Instead of working towards a constructive resolution, like others in the community, he has made one single non-negotiable demand – that John and Ken be fired. --We do agree with NHMC in one area. The rhetoric surrounding this issue has become too heated, and has gone too far. The language used by some callers to Mr. Cabrera is unacceptable and wrong, and John and Ken regret that. Furthermore, both KFI and John and Ken apologize to Mr. Cabrera for the ugly calls he received. John and Ken aired their apology on Monday October 17th, a copy of which is available at http://www.kfiam640.com/pages/DontCensorJohnandKen.html. We want to thank the Latin Business Association, the Latino Coalition, and the Latino Institute for Corporate Inclusion for their efforts to encourage a more constructive dialogue. We will continue to engage with them and others in the Latino community.

Fishbowl

John and Ken Apologize to Jorge-Mario Cabrera

Marcus Vanderberg

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Marcus Vanderberg