BOSTON -- Two of radio's most popular hosts were back on the air Tuesday after serving a two-week suspension for a controversial comment.

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Radio Hosts Apologize To Listeners What Do You Think About Metco Comment Apology?

NewsCenter 5's Janet Wu reported that WEEI's John Dennis and Gerry Callahan began their broadcast with an apology.

The two said an escaped gorilla from Franklin Park Zoo that was captured near a bus stop was waiting for a Metco bus.

"I apologize from the bottom of my heart," Dennis said. "Most important of all, to any children who were hurt by this remarkably stupid comment, I ask for your forgiveness. My comment was the single stupidest thing I've ever said in 26 years of broadcasting in Boston. Nothing else even comes close. It was a shoot from the hip wisecrack about the gorilla, not about Metco. My failure to realize that those two words used together would hurt people and open wounds has, and should, label me as thoughtless, naive and certainly out of touch with what African-Americans feel and deal with on a daily basis."

There was a caveat. Dennis insisted that he is not racist and he never compared Metco students to a gorilla.

"I did no such thing. That reference makes me sick to my stomach. Those who say I am discussing semantics now don't have their life on the line," Dennis said.

The pair said that the escaped gorilla from Franklin Park Zoo was waiting for a Metco bus to Lexington, Mass. Metco is the program that buses inner-city children to suburban schools.

Callahan's apology was far more abbreviated.

"I too would like to apologize if I've offended anyone. I assure you that was not my intention. I too am very sorry," Callahan said. "Now, we are going to make things right, and we are going to move on."

"We have used this experience to create positive and lasting changes within our organization. We hope to put this incident behind us so that our organization and Metco can continue the healing process," WEEI General Manager Tom Baker said in a statement.

Several civil rights groups delivered a letter to the radio station management Tuesday morning. The letter recommended that WEEI adopt guidelines to avoid future comments. The groups want the station to appoint a community advisory board to develop the guidelines.

"Our goal is not to humiliate or confront. We are concerned about on-air stereotypes that wink at racial and religious hostility," Anti-Defamation League spokesman Robert Leikind said.

While most accepted their apologies, some said that it was not enough.

"Their words were hurtful and portrayed a terrible bigotry," United Church of Christ spokeswoman Dr. Nancy Taylor said.

On Monday, three of WEEI's top managers met with lawyers from Attorney General Tom Reilly's office. Reilly requested the meeting after his office received complaints from Metco parents. Reilly office has no jurisdiction to prosecute. WEEI assured officials that it would not happen again.