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5 year oldBBC radio presenter fired for ‘racist’ tweet about Meghan Markle and royal baby
BBC radio star Danny Baker reportedly launched into a furious foul-mouthed tirade aimed at his boss after being fired over a “racist” royal baby tweet, which showed a picture of a monkey.
The Radio 5 Live host was sacked after he was slammed on Wednesday for the post, which came just hours after Meghan Markle and Prince Harry showed off Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
The Sun reports that Baker, 61, told Radio 5 Live controller Jonathan Wall "f*** you and f*** off" as he was told he no longer had a job.
The tweet showed a picture of a couple clinging on to a monkey wearing a suit with the caption: “Royal baby leaves hospital”.
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. pic.twitter.com/EtL1JUIu96
— Julia Hartley-Brewer (@JuliaHB1) May 8, 2019
Danny Baker posts an image comparing Archie - a Royal newborn with African heritage to an APE ??
— Say It With Your Chest Podcast (@withyourchest) May 8, 2019
Danny Baker should be sacked by the morning !!! pic.twitter.com/vZ4OkLTJVI
What shocks me about Danny Baker (@prodnose) posting this photo is that it seemingly never occurred to him how this might be adjudged racist.
— Jim AK (@jamesak47) May 8, 2019
How have you become that blind to the world Danny? A mixed-race Royal baby & so you searched out a photo with a chimp? WTAF?! pic.twitter.com/vXJZ8fQjrs
RACIST RACIST RACIST Danny Baker @prodnose should be given today to resign and clear his desk. If he is still there at 16.59 @bbc MUST FIRE HIM! I’m disgusted by the hate and racism inherent in his Tweet Unforgivable He’s not fit to be a broadcaster employed from the public purse pic.twitter.com/YymUUqHCRY
— Cllr Joseph Ejiofor (@CllrEjiofor) May 9, 2019
He deleted the post and apologised, claiming it was a joke with no “connotations” and today spoke out again to say it was a “gag” about the baby being “posh”.
Blaming an exaggerated Twitter storm, unapologetic Baker told The Sun: “You see these sorts of things happening to other people and you kill yourself laughing.
“It’s a Twitter storm. The point is they (the BBC) have given credence to the vampires by claiming I meant it. It’s rotten.”
Describing the moment he was told he’d lost his Saturday morning radio show, he said: “The BBC said they found it abhorrent. I told them ‘f*** you, and f*** off’.
“That’s exactly what I said to them. It wasn’t a very long call.”
Earlier, he tweeted about reporters showing up on his doorstep to ask him about the controversy. “Here we go,” he wrote. “Opened door, grinning Mail hack. ’Do you think black people look like monkeys?’ Any other time you’d knock someone right on their a**e for saying that.
“No mate. Gag pic. Posh baby chimp. Alerted to circs. Appalled. Deleted. Apologised.”
He received backlash from users branding the post “racist” due to Meghan’s heritage.
The Duchess of Sussex’s estranged dad Thomas Markle is white and mother Doria Ragland is black.
BBC PRESENTER APOLOGISES
In an apology, Baker said: “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.”
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