BBC radio host Danny Baker, a well-known broadcaster in the U.K., was fired after receiving furious backlash for a mindless tweet in which he jokingly commented, “Royal baby leaves hospital.” The accompanying image showed an old photo of a well-dressed couple holding the hands of a young, dapper chimpanzee leaving a building.
This is a post by Danny Baker. The royal baby is less than three days old. Danny Baker works for the BBC. In any other field this would be gross misconduct. I await the "not a racist bone in my body" statement from Danny, or a P45 from the BBC. Only 3 days old. pic.twitter.com/jF9iUl4duO
— ((ALMOST)) Always Positive 💙 ➕ ⬛ (@NubiBlue) May 9, 2019
Monkeys, of course, are no longer the adorable and funny icons of comedy they once were. Instead, they are solidly connected to racist code-wording, so the folks out there ready to pounce on most anyone for tripping certain triggers were quick to attack Baker.
Baker apologized repeatedly, saying it had been a “stupid unthinking gag.” He insisted it was an innocent dig at the royals that was being terribly misinterpreted.
An explosion of outrage was reportedly because of racist undertones against Duchess of Sussex Meghan, 37, whose mother, Doria Ragland, is African-American. The “non-traditional” royal spouse has been the target of some of the less tolerant sections of the British population.
The New York Post reported that Baker said it did not occur to him that the tweet might be offensive. He claimed not to be a ‘royal watcher.’ “Soon as those good enough to point out its possible connotations got in touch, down it came. And that’s it,” he said.
He called the joke “grotesque” and “an enormous mistake.” He even sent a message to the newborn, Harry and Meghan’s son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, that said, “Here’s to ya Archie, Sorry mate.”
His repentance was not enough though, as the BBC quickly issued Baker his pink slip.
“This was a serious error of judgment,” said a BBC spokesman. “(The joke) 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.”
The unforgiving network’s firing of Baker quickly turned his apologies into defiance.
He tweeted that the BBC overreacted, calling it 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 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
— Danny Baker (@prodnose) May 9, 2019
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— Danny Baker (@prodnose) May 9, 2019
Video by Sky News
Video by ODN
So he’s been sacked by the BBC for a tweet which *could* have been interpreted as racist because it contains a chimp?
..the BBC…
…wanting to sack someone for being racist….
…well that’s oxymoron of the year sorted. Well done folks!
— Nicknote (@JulioJamaica) May 9, 2019
His fans told him the pic was racist over twitter, despite that he not only continued to display the tweet but post other non related tweets. If his fans were that upset he should have deleted it immediately, he didn’t. He made a decision, he will have to live with it.
— Steve Rowe ????? (@stevendrowe) May 9, 2019
— Roman Linley (@romanlinley1) May 9, 2019
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Victor Rantala is an Army vet who lives in Minnesota, he is a former intelligence analyst and business owner, and is an NRA Life member who is officially retired but has yet to slow his roll.
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