Dara Ó Briain has sparked debate online, after appearing to suggest that BBC Radio 5Live presenter Danny Baker should not have been sacked over an offensive tweet about the royal baby. On Wednesday night, Baker shared a black and white photo of a well-dressed man and woman holding hands with a suited chimpanzee on Twitter, which he captioned: “Royal baby leaves hospital.” The post was soon criticised, with many Twitter users pointing out the possible racist connotations of Baker’s tweet, prompting him to delete it. Baker also posted an apology message, which read: “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.” PA Ready News UK Danny Baker On Thursday morning, Baker announced his dismissal from the BBC on Twitter and as numerous people began sharing their thoughts, the Mock The Week host weighed in. He wrote: “What? Danny Baker got fired? But he immediately apologised and deleted the tweet! I mean, literally, in the event of mistakenly causing offence, what else can you do? Genuinely amazed by that. What? Danny Baker got fired? But he immediately apologised and deleted the tweet! I mean, literally, in the event of mistakenly causing offence, what else can you do? Genuinely amazed by that. — Dara Ó Briain (@daraobriain) May 9, 2019 Ó Briain’s host led to plenty of responses, many of which expressed surprise that he appeared to be defending Baker: Oh, shut up. Just because it doesn’t offend you doesn’t make it ok. He apologised, but why did he do it in the first place? What he posted was despicable and careless, and quite frankly, unforgivable. — Jessica Noah Morgan (@jnoahmorgan) May 9, 2019 Something terribly wrong if you consider this OK! It’s vile and so is your defence — Bizarre1959 (@RobynHur) May 9, 2019 What more? Exercise some judgement in the first place? — Barry Norton (@BarryNorton) May 9, 2019 I think what dara is saying is that it’s not a good state of affairs when people are not allowed to grow and learn. The only way racism has any chance of being eradicated is if people are not afraid to talk about it. This whole situation doesn’t help that. It adds to the fire. — Jack Cuthbert (@JackCuthbert) May 9, 2019 Ah, Dara Disappointed here His excuse "It was a posh chimp, and the poshness was the joke" was pretty fecking thin — Ronan (@ronanmcmanus) May 9, 2019 "Mistakenly". No way Danny Baker doesn't know the context of chimp/monkey references for black and mixed race people. He posted it because he thought it was funny, regardless, in my opinion. — The Written Ward (@WrittenWard) May 9, 2019 It was a strange non-apology Dara — Lee Hughes (@LeeHughes2) May 9, 2019 His apology was basically blaming other people for getting offended by it. He wasn't in the least bit sincere. — respectable grown up Marc (@DeadpanMarc) May 9, 2019 After engaging in direct conversation with many of the people who had tweeted him, Ó Briain posted a clarification, adding: “Also amazed by how many thought that by posting this, I was excusing the original tweet. Of course I wasn’t. “The Irish had a century of that monkey shit too, y’know (cf Punch magazine). Ultimately, though, I’d like that to hope if/when I fuck up, you might accept an apology…” Also amazed by how many thought that by posting this, I was excusing the original tweet. Of course I wasn’t. The Irish had a century of that monkey shit too, y’know (cf Punch magazine). Ultimately, though, I’d like that to hope if/when I fuck up, you might accept an apology... — Dara Ó Briain (@daraobriain) May 9, 2019 After announcing his sacking via the social media site, Baker made a brief appearance outside his London home to speak to reporters, accusing the BBC of being “weaselly” and “chuck[ing] us under the bus”. Asked if he could understand people’s outrage, he said: “You can, but equally against that you’ve got to take Ockham’s Razor [the most simple explanation is usually correct]. “I didn’t know which of our royal princesses had given birth. Otherwise you’d got to be thinking I’d been secretly waiting to make this grotesque joke. There’s no truth to it. “I’ve been doing a thing on the radio for years of famous people dressed as monkeys with fairground music. “My go-to photo when any posh people have a baby is this absurd chimpanzee in a top hat leaving the hospital.”<doc-sep>Get the latest news from across Ireland straight to your inbox every single day Invalid Email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up! Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Comedian Dara O Briain hit out at the BBC yesterday after Danny Baker was sacked for a tweet that sparked a racism row. The radio DJ was axed over a photo showing a well-dressed man and woman with a chimp in a suit with the caption “Royal baby leaves hospital”. Reacting to the news, the Wicklow man tweeted: “What? Danny Baker got fired? But he immediately apologised and deleted the tweet! “I mean, literally, in the event of mistakenly causing offence, what else can you do? Genuinely amazed by that.” The 47-year-old later added he was not “excusing” Baker and said: “Also amazed by how many thought that by posting this, I was excusing the original tweet. Of course I wasn’t. “The Irish had a century of that monkey sh** too, y’know. Ultimately, though, I’d like that to hope if/when I f*** up, you might accept an apology...” Baker said Beeb chiefs “threw me under a bus” and maintained he is not racist and his ill-fated gag was about being “posh”. The 61-year-old claimed he had no idea newborn Archie was the son of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, whose mum is African American.<doc-sep>Dara Ó Briain has defended fellow comedian Danny Baker, who was fired from the BBC after tweeting about the royal baby using a photo of a chimpanzee. Baker, 61, was accused of racism after seemingly mocking Meghan Markle’s heritage in a now deleted post that featured an image of two people holding hands with a small monkey dressed in a suit. He posted it, moments after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex revealed their son, with the caption: “Royal baby leaves hospital.” Baker later confirmed he had been by sacked BBC 5 Live on Twitter, writing: “Just got fired from @bbc5live.” Ó Briain tweeted in response to the decision: “What? Danny Baker got fired? But he immediately apologised and deleted the tweet! I mean, literally, in the event of mistakenly causing offence, what else can you do? Genuinely amazed by that.” After a backlash from fans, he added: “Also amazed by how many thought that by posting this, I was excusing the original tweet. Of course I wasn’t. The Irish had a century of that monkey s*** too, y’know. Ultimately, though, I’d like that to hope if/when I f*** up, you might accept an apology...” When a Twitter user argued that it’s impossible Baker wouldn’t have been aware of the racist connotations of his tweet, he replied: “I just don’t think Danny is some racist who did that deliberately, no matter how it came out. You say f**k him, I say forgive him, but we agree on way more... I just hate the ‘it’s over- cancel him’ culture of total certainty here, and I think it makes all judgements total and final.” Baker, who called the tweet an “idiotic” mistake, has since insisted he’s not racist in an interview with Sky News. 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.” Baker issued an angry reply to the news on social media, accusing bosses of “throwing him under the bus.” Upon receiving backlash to the tweet, Baker swiftly removed it and commented: “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.” The royal baby – whose name is Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor – was born on Monday 6 May before making his first public appearance at Windsor Castle two days later.<doc-sep>
Baker tweeted, then deleted, a photo of a chimpanzee wearing a suit with the caption “Royal baby leaves hospital” earlier this week. Shortly after, the BBC confirmed that the broadcaster had been dismissed by Radio 5 Live, describing the tweet as “a serious error of judgement” that “goes against the values we as a station aim to embody”. Mock the Week host Ó Briain told Twitter followers that he was “genuinely amazed” by the BBC’s decision. “What? Danny Baker got fired? But he immediately apologised and deleted the tweet!” he wrote. “I mean, literally, in the event of mistakenly causing offence, what else can you do? Genuinely amazed by that.” The comedian was later forced to clarify his initial message after Twitter users thought he was “excusing” Baker’s original tweet. Apology: Baker later said the tweet was a "naive and catastrophic mistake" / PA “Also amazed by how many thought that by posting this, I was excusing the original tweet. Of course I wasn’t,” he wrote. “The Irish had a century of that monkey s*** too, y’know (cf Punch magazine). Ultimately, though, I’d like that to hope if/when I f*** up, you might accept an apology…” Danny Baker defends his actions Baker issued a second “formal apology” for his “genuine, naïve and catastrophic mistake” in a series of tweets posted earlier today, having previously accused the BBC of “throwing him under the bus.” “Following one of the worst days of my life I just want to formally apologise for the outrage I caused and explain how I got myself into this mess,” he wrote. Baker said that he had intended “to lampoon privilege & the news cycle” with his post, but “chose the wrong photo to illustrate a joke. Disastrously so.”