
BBC5 broadcaster and comedian Danny Baker has been fired after tweeting a "racist" joke about the royal baby, Archie.
In a now-deleted tweet, Baker posted a picture of a couple holding hands with a chimp in clothing, alongside the caption: "Royal Baby leaves hospital". This was shortly after Harry and Meghan, whose mother is African American, announced that their baby would be named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
After a wave of backlash on social media and allegations of being a racist, the 61-year-old apologised for the joke.
Danny Baker (a man I’ve worked with in the past) knew full well what that tweet was suggesting. No comedian in thei… https://t.co/m8f6bE2xDZ— London Hughes (@London Hughes) 1557396123
A friend just reminded me of this incident. Sugar tweeted a racist meme comparing the Senegalese football team to b… https://t.co/XkY2Pbq5ZN— Elizabeth Pears (@Elizabeth Pears) 1557399540
To post a pic picturing a 3-day old baby of mixed heritage as a monkey, then claim it was a joke? That’s old-school… https://t.co/O7tUYiGMN5— Charlene White (@Charlene White) 1557395509
It's almost like someone made Danny Baker tweet a photo of a monkey when talking about a mixed race baby ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ https://t.co/FmPjgoWsTH— Lucy Pasha-Robinson (@Lucy Pasha-Robinson) 1557401424
But this was not before the tweet was condemned by BBC, which has come out to say that it was "a serious error of judgment" and that Baker would no longer be presenting his weekly show, despite being a "brilliant broadcaster".
Just got fired from @bbc5live. For the record - it was red sauce. Always.— Danny Baker (@Danny Baker) 1557394213
Baker apologised again yesterday for his "unthinking gag pic", but then followed his tweet up by criticising the BBC for how they handled his sacking, calling his phone call with them a "masterclass of pompous faux-gravity".
Now Sky at the door. Would have used same stupid pic for any other Royal birth or Boris Johnson kid or even one of… https://t.co/ij74iZdIjc— Danny Baker (@Danny Baker) 1557393837
The call to fire me from @bbc5live was a masterclass of pompous faux-gravity. Took a tone that said I actually mean… https://t.co/C91umW7KL0— Danny Baker (@Danny Baker) 1557395825
HT The Guardian
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