GM Reportedly The Latest Company To Pull Ads From Anti-Immigrant John & Ken Show

Written by Melody Johnson

Published

After losing major advertisers AT&T and Verizon, KFI Los Angeles' John & Ken Show can add one more brick to the pile: General Motors. The auto company reportedly pulled its advertisements from the program following a campaign led by the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) calling for a boycott of the program by its advertisers in response to the disparaging, anti-immigrant vitriol the hosts frequently use on-air.

According to The Huffington Post, GM issued the following statement on Twitter:

This was a radio ad buy from a group of dealers, and we quickly asked the ad group to cancel it, which they are doing now.

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

On September 1, the hosts aired the personal cell phone number of Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (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 later wrote a letter to NHMC president Alex Nogales defending the hosts' actions.

Additionally, the Los Angeles Times reported in February 2009:

Not that John & Ken or their website strive for subtlety. A central image on the site in recent weeks: pictures of the Republican budget supporters, their heads lopped off and set atop cartoon pikes.

Duly inspired, one KFI fan called the office of Assembly Republican leader Mike Villines in the wee hours of the morning (as the budget talks went overnight) and repeated, time after time, “Head on a stick! Head on a stick!”

Earlier this month, Los Angeles-area grocery store chains Vons and Ralphs also agreed not to advertise on John & Ken in the future.

Despite these advertiser retreats, Kobylt and Chiampou vowed 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.