The John & Ken Show: Gay Men Force Actresses Toward Emaciation Because "Gays Like Bodies That Remind Them Of 14 Year-Old Boys"

During the January 16 broadcast of Clear Channel's The John and Ken Show, co-hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou discussed the 69th Golden Globes Awards with news contributor Shannon Farren. While discussing how many of the actresses appeared to be "emaciated," Kobylt claimed that "gay guys control...the whole Hollywood look" and that because "gays like bodies that remind them of 14 year-old boys," actresses have to look like "14 year-old boy stick figures." From The John and Ken Show: 

FARREN: I don't watch [awards shows] because every time I do, I just want to feed them a burger, every actress I see. I just want to feed them, they look so emaciated.

KOBYLT: I know they look so--that's not attractive.

CHIAMPOU: But that's the game though. They have to be more emaciated than the other famous actress.

FARREN: Yeah, and this is the time of year.

KOBYLT: That's right. And it's because--

CHIAMPOU: They get jealous and see photos of someone thinner than them.

KOBYLT: Gay guys control the fashion industry and the casting industry and the whole Hollywood look. And gays like bodies that remind them of a 14 year old-boy. Guys like curves. Guys like curves. Absolutely, positively. It's biological, because a woman with curves looks like she can bear your children successfully and that's biologically what a man is looking for. So sexually a guy is much more turned on by a woman with curves than these 14 year old-boy stick figures. And that's how I know for sure, I don't need to do any research or any proof that it's gay guys who control the entire casting industry.

Kobylt's claim that "gays like bodies that remind them of a 14 year-old boy" suggests that gay men are largely attracted to children and invokes the persistent myth that gay people molest children at far higher rates than heterosexuals In a 2010 post the Southern Poverty Law Center debunked this myth:

According to the American Psychological Association, "homosexual men are not more likely to sexually abuse children than heterosexual men are." Gregory Herek, a professor at the University of California, Davis, who is one of the nation's leading researchers on prejudice against sexual minorities, reviewed a series of studies and found no evidence that gay men molest children at higher rates than heterosexual men.

Anti-gay activists who make that claim allege that all men who molest male children should be seen as homosexual. But research by A. Nicholas Groth, a pioneer in the field of sexual abuse of children, shows that is not so. Groth found that there are two types of child molesters: fixated and regressive. The fixated child molester -- the stereotypical pedophile -- cannot be considered homosexual or heterosexual because "he often finds adults of either sex repulsive" and often molests children of both sexes. Regressive child molesters are generally attracted to other adults, but may "regress" to focusing on children when confronted with stressful situations. Groth found that the majority of regressed offenders were heterosexual in their adult relationships.

This is yet another example of Kobylt and Chiampou employing wantonly reckless language, a behavior they have previously employed to attack racial minorities. For example, on January 6, Kobylt said that "there's a lot of, like, Korean painter scam guys" and that "there's certain cultures that become involved in certain lines of work."

In a January 9 response to Kobylt's comments, Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), said:

CHIRLA is appalled to hear that once again The John and Ken Show dissed the Korean community for fun and ratings' sake. John and Ken will cease their immature and spiteful drivel only when they have been kicked out from the Los Angeles airwaves for good.

Last October, Kobylt claimed that Native Americans should "probably [have been] better warriors" when discussing the gradual seizure of Native American lands by European immigrants. Last September, the hosts, while talking about the California DREAM Act, said that the parents of undocumented children "took jobs from Americans, and now the kid is taking grant money from the American kid. ... So now the theft is complete. Two generations. They stole your employment, now they're stealing your kids' education." The hosts also frequently use the pejorative "illegal alien."

Additionally, last September, the hosts aired the personal cell phone number of CHIRLA activist Jorge-Mario Cabrera, who received hundreds of threatening calls as a result. The hosts denied responsibility, stating repeatedly that Cabrera's phone number was part of a press release, and therefore public information.

Clear Channel, KFI's parent company, later wrote a letter to NHMC president Alex Nogales defending the hosts' actions.

Currently, NHMC is engaged in a campaign to educate companies that advertise during a broadcast of The John and Ken Show, informing them about the racially charged, inflammatory rhetoric, frequenting the discourse between the hosts, emphasizing the hosts' anti-immigrant vitriol. In response to the NHMC campaign, prominent companies such as AT&T, Verizon, and General Motors have stopped advertising during the program.

Despite these advertiser retreats, Kobylt and Chiampou vowed in October that "nothing on the show is changing. We're going to talk about illegal aliens all we want," promising more of the reckless rhetoric that has led to numerous advertiser retreats.

The John & Ken Show airs weekdays from 3 to 7 p.m. PT on KFI, a Clear Channel network, and reportedly has an audience of 1.2 million listeners.