Broadcaster apologises for 'stupid unthinking gag'

Danny Baker has been fired by the BBC after being accused of racism over a tweet about the royal baby that used a photo of a chimpanzee.

The 61-year-old broadcaster tweeted that he had been dropped from Radio 5 Live, where he hosted a weekend show, following the online storm.

And a BBC spokesperson said: 'This was a serious error of judgment and goes against the values we as a station aim to embody. Danny's a brilliant broadcaster but will no longer be presenting a weekly show with us'.

Baker also hit out at the executives who fired him, explaining: 'The call to fire me from @bbc5live was a masterclass of pompous faux-gravity. Took a tone that said I actually meant that ridiculous tweet and the BBC must uphold blah blah blah. Literally threw me under the bus. Could hear the suits knees knocking. #Fuckem.'

The 61-year-old had earlier apologised over the ‘stupid unthinking gag’ after it was widely criticised for being racist.

He had posted an old photo of a couple holding the hands of a monkey dressed in a suit, captioning it: ‘Royal Baby leaves hospital'.

Other Twitter users were quick to point out the problems with the image given the new child’s African heritage

After Baker’s name trended on Twitter, he removed the image and apologised, saying: ‘’Sorry my gag pic of the little fella in the posh outfit has whipped some up. Never occurred to me because, well, mind not diseased. Soon as those good enough to point out it's possible connotations got in touch, down it came. And that's it. Now stand by for sweary football tweets.’

That did not quell the controversy and a few hours later he added: ‘Once again. Sincere apologies for the stupid unthinking gag pic earlier. Was supposed to be joke about Royals vs circus animals in posh clothes but interpreted as about monkeys & race, so rightly deleted. Royal watching not my forte.’

Among those criticising Baker were journalist Afua Hirsch, who said: ‘So not only does Danny Baker post an image comparing a baby w African heritage to an ape, but he has the audacity to say problem is that those of us who point out how racist it is have "diseased minds". Classic example of blaming those of us who call out racism for its existence.’

TalkRadio host Julia Hartley-Brewer – who previously defended Amber Rudd after she called Diane Abbott a ‘coloured woman’ –said: ‘I want to give Danny Baker the benefit of the doubt, but I’m really struggling to find any reasonable explanation for this tweet, now wisely deleted.’

In a series of tweets this morning, Baker also described being doorstepped by journalists over the incident.

As he desribed it: 'Opened door, grinning Mail hack. "Do you think black people look like monkeys?" Any other time you'd knock someone right on their arse for saying that. No mate. Gag pic. Posh baby chimp. Alerted to circs. Appalled. Deleted. Apologised. He asks again! #MailonRacism.'

And in another, he said: 'Now Sky at the door. Would have used same stupid pic for any other Royal birth or Boris Johnson kid or even one of my own. It's a funny image. (Though not of course in that context.) Enormous mistake, for sure. Grotesque. Anyway, here's to ya Archie, Sorry mate. #Occam #Razor.'

Occam's Razor is a philosophical theory that the simplest explanation is more likely to be the correct one.

Many fans said they did not believe Baker - who has regularly joked about chimps dressed as famous people on his radio show – to be racist.

But others pointed out that as a football pundit and fan he should have been aware of the racist monkey noises and banana-throwing that has blighted the sport.

Published: 9 May 2019