The Beat Gets Heat for ‘House Party’ Skit

Radio station KKBT-FM (92.3), better known as the Beat, is involved in a heated dispute with Compton Mayor Omar Bradley and community groups over a recurring skit on the station’s popular morning show.

The point of contention: “Little Crackhead,” a sketch that airs during “John London and the House Party.” Bradley aired his grievance at a recent public community forum: “I said if John London was raising a crack baby, he wouldn’t find that very funny,” Bradley said Wednesday.

A series of demonstrations have been mounted and another is scheduled for this morning outside the station’s studios in Hollywood. Also, petitions are circulating at area churches calling for the Federal Communications Commission to revoke the station’s license.

Following Bradley’s comments at the forum, London challenged the mayor to call in to discuss the issue; a heated on-air conversation ensued on Oct. 2, and since then relations have been strained between the station and portions of the community.

London, who was not available for comment, has defended the bit--and the entire show--as satire.

However, Bradley explains, “There is a lot of tension in the community related to the crack problem. [This incident] has mushroomed and there are a lot of people who are simply mad at the Beat and specifically at John London.”

The freewheeling “House Party,” whose benchmark is its edgy satire, ribald humor and cutting-edge shock value, was the No. 1 English-speaking morning show in the most recent Arbitron ratings.

The station’s vice president and general manager, Craig Wilbraham, defends the show and his station.

“The morning show is humor-based, satirical in nature,” explains Wilbraham, “and it’s satire that pokes fun at several different things. We are very involved with the community and community issues are important to us. We’ve raised money for drug intervention, drug programs, raised funds for gang awareness. We are a very proactive station in the community. What took place is one humorous bit . . . and somehow through inference it was suggested that the bit was insensitive to [the crack problem], but that bit has nothing to do with that issue.”

Wilbraham issued a public statement last Friday, apologizing to Bradley and to anyone who might be offended by anything they have heard on the station. However, Wilbraham says that the station’s attorney has informed them that “this is a question of taste, not a question of decency . . . and that there is nothing actionable.”

But Wilbraham does not want to minimize the issue and, for the time being, the skit has been pulled. However, Wilbraham says that he can’t guarantee that it will not be on again.

This isn’t the first time the “House Party” has come under fire over a sensitive community issue. Last year, the Media Action Network for Asian Americans lodged a complaint with the station about skits that, says MANA founder and board member Guy Aoki, “mocked Asian Americans in the news with fake accents.”

Wilbraham, however, believes that the station’s listeners support the show, and says that communication to the station has been more supportive than not: “I don’t think [the protest] represents a significant part of the community. We are out there to please as many people as we can. We don’t want to offend anyone. That’s not our purpose.”

“They are laughing at our pain and suffering,” said Danny Bakewell of the Brotherhood Crusade. “It’s humor at our expense and this is not tolerable. We’re calling for an apology both to Mayor Omar Bradley and the black community and all the mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters who have put a face on this anguish and pain.”