Whitney Houston 'crack' comment led to John and Ken's suspension

This post has been corrected. See note below.

A derogatory comment about Whitney Houston and crack use led KFI radio to suspend its popular talk show hosts John & Ken.

KFI announced the suspension Thursday, saying John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou would be back on the air Feb. 27.

When talking about reports of Houston's odd behavior before her death Saturday, they said: “It's like, ‘Ah Jesus . . . here comes the crack ho again, what’s she gonna do."

The duo talked about Houston's past drug problems, at one point saying she was "cracked out for 20 years," according to a recording on the website Urban Informer.

When talking about her drug problems and death, they said: "Really, it took this long?"

"John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou have been suspended for making insensitive and inappropriate comments about the late Whitney Houston," KFI said in a statement on its website. "Management does not condone, support or tolerate statements of this kind."

In the statement, Kobylt said, "We made a mistake, and we accept the station’s decision. We used language that was inappropriate, and we sincerely apologize to our listeners and to the family of Ms. Houston.”

Officials are still trying to determine how Houston died.

Authorities collected several bottles of prescription drugs from Houston's suite at the Beverly Hilton, where she was found dead Saturday. But officials have said the amount of drugs did not seem unusually large, leaving it unclear whether the medications had anything to do with the singer's death.

Officials are waiting for the results of toxicology tests on Houston's body.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office said Wednesday that investigators had asked  "a number" of doctors to provide them with Houston's medical information.

[For the Record, Feb. 17, 3:50 p.m.: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said John and Ken would be back on the air Monday.]

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Photo: John Kobylt, left, and Ken Chiampou host an afternoon show on Los Angeles' KFI-AM (640). Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times