A BBC disc jockey has been fired after using a picture of a chimpanzee in a tweet about the royal baby born Monday to Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry. Danny Baker tweeted Thursday that he has been fired after posting an image of a couple holding hands with a chimpanzee dressed in clothes and the caption: "Royal baby leaves hospital." The tweet was seen as a racist reference to the heritage of the couple's newborn, Archie, who was born Monday. The duchess's mother, Doria Ragland, is black, and her father, Thomas Markle, is white. Baker, 61, said the posting had been meant as a gag, tweeting late Wednesday that it was "supposed to be [a] joke about royals vs circus animals in posh clothes but interpreted as about monkeys & race." The post has since been deleted. "Enormous mistake, for sure. Grotesque. Anyway, here's to ya Archie, Sorry mate," he tweeted. BBC Radio 5 Live controller Jonathan Wall said in an email to staff that Baker had shown poor judgment. "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," Wall said. Doria Ragland, the mother of the duchess, is seen with Prince Charles at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle last May, following the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan. (Owen Humphreys/Reuters) On Thursday, Baker insisted he is not racist and attacked the BBC for its handling of the situation. He said the call to fire him "was a masterclass of pompous faux-gravity" by the public broadcaster. When Harry was first dating Meghan, his office released a scathing letter in which he complained about sexist and racist coverage of Meghan, who at the time was starring in the TV show Suits. The flap over Baker's tweet came as Harry took a break from parental duties to travel to the Netherlands to promote the 2020 Invictus Games, an international competition he founded for injured service personnel and veterans. Harry grinned and made funny faces for the cameras as he held up a tiny baby outfit given to him by Princess Margriet of the Netherlands. Baby Archie was introduced to his great-grandparents, the Queen and Prince Philip, Wednesday. Harry and Meghan posted an Instagram picture of the meeting, which also included Meghan's mother, who is staying with the royal couple.<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. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 Thanks for signing up! A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it please check your junk folder. The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again Trending<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>
A veteran BBC radio host has been fired over a “racist” tweet about the new royal baby. Danny Baker, who presents a show on BBC Radio 5 Live, tweeted then deleted an image comparing newborn Archie Harrison to a chimp. The 61-year-old apologized and deleted the tweet but later slammed the BBC for the way he was fired. “The call to fire me from @bbc5live was a masterclass of pompous faux-gravity,” he tweeted Thursday. “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.” The offending tweet showed a black and white image of a couple holding hands with a chimpanzee dressed in a suit and hat with the caption: "Royal baby leaves hospital." Baker called the tweet a “stupid unthinking gag.” “Was supposed to be joke about Royals vs circus animals in posh clothes but interpreted as about monkeys and race, so rightly deleted,” he wrote. “Royal watching not my forte. Also, guessing it was my turn in the barrel.” Baby Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor was born to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan on Monday May 6. Baker received swift backlash from Twitter users branding the post "racist" due to Meghan's heritage - her estranged dad Thomas Markle is white and mother Doria Ragland is African-American. “Sorry my gag pic of the little fella in the posh outfit has whipped some up,” he wrote. “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.” Baker, who has more than half a million followers on Twitter, described being doorstepped by reporters, one of whom asked: “Do you think black people look like monkeys?” “No mate. Gag pic. Posh baby chimp. Alerted to circs. Appalled. Deleted. Apologised,” he tweeted. A BBC spokesperson called the tweet “a serious error of judgement." The corporation added that Baker's tweet "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 spokesman said. Baker is an award-winning broadcaster and was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2012. It's the second time the controversial presenter has been axed by 5 Live and the third time he has left the BBC. “Would have used same stupid pic for any other Royal birth or Boris Johnson kid or even one of my own,” Baker 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.”