"You can't just say sorry and then carry on like it's business as usual. When you have an incredibly important platform like he does, you do have to think about what you do and the signals that it sends out."<doc-sep>British presenter Danny Baker has been sacked by the BBC after posting a picture of a couple holding hands with a chimpanzee and the words “Royal Baby leaves hospital.” Meghan Markle and Prince Harry – the duke and duchess of Sussex – showed off their newborn son to the media for the first time Wednesday. The baby, whom they have named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, is seventh in line to the throne. Markle is biracial, and her mother, Doria Ragland, who was shown in some of the photos released by the family, is African-American. Baker denied that his tweet, which he has deleted, was racist, and apologized for what he said was a misinterpreted joke about “Royals vs circus animals in posh clothes.” He was promptly fired by the BBC on Thursday. Baker has a show on BBC radio and has made numerous TV appearance over the years on TV in Britain, where he is a household name. A Jeff Pope sitcom for ITV, “Cradle to the Grave,” was based upon Baker’s life. A BBC spokesman confirmed that Baker had been let go. “This was a serious error of judgment and goes against the values we as a station aim to embody,” the spokesman said. “Danny’s a brilliant broadcaster but will no longer be presenting a weekly show with us.” Baker continued to defend himself on Twitter before being fired. “Would have used same stupid pic for any other Royal birth or Boris Johnson kid or even one of my own,” he tweeted. “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.” He then announced on Twitter that he had been sacked, and angrily called the decision “a masterclass of pompous faux-gravity.” He said the pubcaster “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.”<doc-sep>The broadcaster Danny Baker has been fired by BBC Radio 5 Live following allegations of racism over a tweet about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s newborn son, Archie, that featured a picture of a chimpanzee. The tweet, which has since been deleted by Baker, showed a black and white photo of a well-dressed couple next to a suited chimpanzee with the caption: “Royal baby leaves hospital.” Baker apologised for using the picture but was sacked on Thursday morning, leading him to lash out at the corporation over its handling of the incident. 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.” Prince Harry and Meghan, whose mother is African American, revealed on Wednesday their new arrival was named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. Following allegations of racism over the tweet, Baker deleted the post on Wednesday. “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,” he said. “Soon as those good enough to point out it’s possible connotations got in touch, down it came. And that’s it.” Baker, 61, repeated his apology on Wednesday evening, saying the post was intended to poke fun at the royal family. “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,” he said on Twitter. “Royal watching not my forte. Also, guessing it was my turn in the barrel.” After the BBC sacked him, Baker attacked the corporation for its handling of the decision, which he called “a masterclass of pompous faux-gravity”. He tweeted: “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.” In an LBC interview after he was fired, Baker told James O’Brien: “It was put up there as a joke about class. It was supposed to be preposterous about toffs leaving. The idea that there was any racial basis for it … it came out of my own ignorance. “I curdled that I thought anyone could have thought that was the intent behind that photo.” Many public figures felt the BBC had made the right decision. Charlene White, an anchor at ITV News, said: “To claim ‘ignorance’, and give a half-hearted apology – again full of jokey ‘banter’ – despite people highlighting just how clearly offensive it is, is also unacceptable. That’s not the world we live in now. Those who live in privilege must be held to account.” The writer and broadcaster Afua Hirsch tweeted: “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’.” Baker, a prominent and popular voice on the BBC and elsewhere for decades, has had run-ins with the corporation before. In 1997, he was sacked from the same station after it was alleged he had incited threatening behaviour after a referee awarded a controversial penalty in an FA cup tie. In 2012, after his afternoon show on BBC London was axed, he said on Twitter: “BBC asked me not to say anything just yet about axing best show on British radio. Why? Because it’s embarrassing? Because they’ll look bad?” He later branded his bosses “pinheaded weasels” during an on-air rant during the programme. The DJ and comedy writer has been working intermittently for the BBC since the 1980s.<doc-sep>Share this Story: BBC radio host fired for tweet comparing Baby Archie to a baby chimpanzee BBC radio host fired for tweet comparing Baby Archie to a baby chimpanzee Danny Baker, who until Thursday morning was a broadcaster for BBC's 5Live, was accused of making fun of Meghan's mixed-race heritage Photo by Victoria Jones/PA via AP Article content LONDON – A BBC radio broadcaster was fired Thursday after posting a picture of a baby chimpanzee when tweeting about the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s son, Archie Harrison. Danny Baker, who until Thursday morning was a broadcaster for BBC’s 5Live, was accused of making fun of Meghan’s mixed-race heritage. He apologized following a backlash online and said he’d meant to compare the royals to circus animals. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or BBC radio host fired for tweet comparing Baby Archie to a baby chimpanzee Back to video Baker tweeted the offending image shortly after Prince Harry and Meghan presented Baby Archie to the world in his first photocall. His original tweet, since deleted, showed a black-and-white photo of a couple, with the woman holding hands with a young chimpanzee wearing a hat and a jacket. The caption read: “Royal baby leaves hospital.” Baker was swiftly accused of racism on social media. Charlene White, a news anchor for ITV News, tweeted: “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 prejudice and racism at its peak. And for a trusted broadcaster working at a public service broadcaster to feed that prejudice? It’s unacceptable.” Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content There is a long history of comparing black people to apes, which scholars have argued has helped to justify slavery and anti-black violence. In one high-profile incident, Michelle Obama was compared to an “Ape in heels” by a mayor of a town in West Virginia, prompting a national uproar. Photo by Dominic Lipinski / AP For her part, Meghan, who has an African American mother and white father, has been subjected to racism in Britain from the start of her relationship with Prince Harry. Shortly after the couple started dating, Harry took the highly unusual step of condemning the media coverage for its “racial undertones.” Baker, the broadcaster, said that he was misinterpreted and apologized for the “unthinking gag.” He tweeted that it 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.” Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content On Thursday morning, he was fired. In a series of tweets on Thursday, the 61-year-old presenter described being approached by journalists asking about the tweet. “Now Sky at the door,” he said, referring to the broadcaster Sky News. “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.” In an emailed statement, the BBC 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.” Share this article in your social network Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Shopping essentials Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. NP Posted Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. Email Address There was an error, please provide a valid email address. By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. 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A BBC broadcaster has been fired after tweeting a joke about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's newborn baby using a photograph of a chimpanzee. Danny Baker, a veteran broadcaster and journalist in the U.K., earlier apologized for his "stupid unthinking gag," which he claimed was not meant to have any racist undertones. "This was a serious error of judgment and goes against the values we as a station aim to embody," a BBC spokesman said in a statement. "Danny's a brilliant broadcaster but will no longer be presenting a weekly show with us." "Royal baby leaves hospital," Baker had tweeted, attaching a black and white photograph of a well-dressed man and woman holding hands with a chimpanzee wearing a bowler hat and jacket. After fierce backlash by users aghast at Britain's first royal mixed-race baby being seemingly compared to a monkey, the 61-year-old deleted the offending tweet and apologized. "Sorry my gag pic of the little fella in the posh outfit has whipped some up," Baker wrote. "Never occurred to me because, well, mind not diseased. Soon as those good enough to point out its possible connotations got in touch, down it came. And that's it. Now stand by for sweary football tweets." After posting several tweets about the soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Ajax in the Champions League semi-final second leg being played later that evening, Baker, who presents a weekly show on BBC Radio 5 Live, posted another apology as the backlash against his tweet continued. "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." The next day, Baker said reporters had come to speak to him directly about the tweet before saying he had been fired over it. "Here we go. Opened door, grinning Mail hack," Baker wrote. "'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. "Now Sky at the door," he added. "Would have used same stupid pic for any other Royal birth or [British politician 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." "Just got fired from @bbc5live," he added a short while later. Journalist Afua Hirsch was one of those who criticized Baker's joke, dismissing his claims that he did failed to see its racist connotations. "So not only does Danny Baker post an image comparing a baby [with] 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'," Hirsch tweeted. "Classic example of blaming those of us who call out racism for its existence." Casual racism is alive & well. ‘Celebrity’ Danny Baker depicts the royal baby Sussex as a monkey. Excellent. We’ve come so far. It’s fair to say the monkey in the photo is a lot smarter than Danny Baker, and a lot better looking, too. pic.twitter.com/t6OFFR5wxW — Alan Mehdizadeh (@alanmehdizadeh) May 8, 2019 Astonishing Danny Baker could think even for a second this tweet was ok. Tropes like ‘black people are apes’ still dominate everyday racist discourse, penetrating the collective conscious, with direct consequences for how we all think, feel and act. pic.twitter.com/QxTPLeD8yl — Simon Lancaster (@bespokespeeches) May 9, 2019 Danny Baker gag. Seems people refuse to get the *cheeky little monkey* royal baby gag. pic.twitter.com/AIOUuuo4ey â LangleyBristol (@LangleyBristol) May 9, 2019 The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made their first appearance with their baby at the St. George's Hall at the royal family's Windsor Castle on May 8 before shortly confirming his name is Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. Speaking to reporters, Markle said her son, who is seventh in line to the throne, has the "sweetest temperament." "He's really calm. He's been the dream," she added. "It's magic, it's pretty amazing. I have the two best guys in the world, so I'm really happy." The graphic below from Statista shows the current line of succession to the throne following the birth of Archie.