Charles Karel Bouley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charles Karel Bouley, (on-the-air as Karel) is a weekend talk show host (and fill-in host) for KGO in San Francisco. He is also a columnist for The Advocate.com and is a contributing writer for The Huffington Post. His book of essays You Can't Say That is published by Alyson Press, a LGBT publishing house.
Contents |
[edit] Before Radio
Before his radio career, Karel was a struggling stand-up comic and a writer for Billboard Magazine as well as other music industry journals. Along with having his own graphic arts company, Karel also spent time as a member of the Hollywood paparazzi, imaging celebrities such as Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. In 1995, Bouley released an album entitled "Dance...Or Else" which was named #10 pick-of-the-year by Billboard's Dance Music editor Larry Flick. Karel later recorded the single "Don't Stop" with Steve Bronski and the single "I Am" with Jellybean Benitez as well as "Take Your Heartache Away" again on the Jellybean label. Many projects featured Thea Austin, a personal friend of Karel and former lead singer of Snap!.
[edit] Radio Talk Show Host
Karel and his on and off-air partner, Andrew Howard, started in radio together at KYPA Los Angeles in addition to Triangle Broadcasting based in Palm Springs. For the latter, they hosted the program "Good Morning Gay America".
In 1998, Karel and Andrew made talk radio history when they became the first openly gay couple in America to host a drive-time radio show on a major station. At Los Angeles' KFI, the duo replaced John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou (known on-the-air as John and Ken) in the coveted afternoon drive-slot. Kobylt and Chiampou subsequently derided the pair, referring to them as "Siegfried and Roy". Later, Karel and Andrew moved from the afternoon drive to the evening drive slot.
After twenty-two months on KFI, Karel and Andrew were replaced by returning hosts John and Ken in May 2001. Reportedly, KFI's owner was preparing to launch them on KLAC-AM in June, but Andrew's death from a heart attack on May 21, 2001, changed that course. Following Andrew's untimely demise, Karel went on to win a battle in appellate court in Los Angeles that allowed him to sue as a domestic partner in the alleged malpractice in Andrew's death. His court victory effectively rewrote the wrongful death laws in California, making them retroactive. Karel returned to KFI and hosted his own talk-show there for almost a year after Andrew's death until he was dismissed by station management in 2002. It was then that he was hired by San Francisco radio station KGO, where Karel has been number one in his time slot for the past six years
[edit] Controversy and criticism
Ronald Reagan On June 5, 2004, Karel opened his weekend KGO program with a clip of The Wizard of Oz song, Ding-Dong the Witch is Dead! as a "tribute" to former President Ronald Reagan, who had died earlier that day. Bouley complained about Reagan during the first segment of his show because of what Karel viewed as the non-action of Reagan and his administration in the face of the then new AIDS crisis. On the Monday following Reagan's death, Karel was reprimanded by his KGO superiors. He later apologized on-the-air for choosing to air his comments the same day as the former president's death and later included an open letter of apology to Nancy Reagan in his book You Can't Say That. [1]
Tony Snow On March 27, 2007, Karel wrote the following for the online The Huffington Post, regarding reports that White House spokesman Tony Snow had developed cancer in his colon:
"I hear about Tony Snow and say to myself, well, stand up every day, lie to the American people at the behest of your dictator-esque boss and well, how could a cancer NOT grow in you. Fox News spun the truth in to a billion knots and spurred the controversy. [2]
Consequently, the draft was replaced and Karel's inflammatory statements removed. [3] The original post, however, got wide airplay in print, on television, and the Internet, compelling Huffington Post editor Roy Sekoff to speak out about the issue on The O'Reilly Factor shortly after the row. [4]
[edit] Current Life and KGO
Karel is legally married to Karen Dittman, a lifelong friend. She resides in Texas.
Karel divides his time between Long Beach and San Francisco, California and broadcasts his KGO radio show on weekend evenings 7-10 PM from his KGO South studio, and frequently from the KGO Studio in San Francisco. He is often heard filling in the night time weekday slot 10-1 A.M. In addition to his radio-work on KGO, Karel is the entertainment reporter and roving news reporter for Los Angeles' KNX since 2006. Currently, Karel is working on several books, including the book about Andrew's death titled "The Fight For His Life".
