Sorry, this video isn't available any more. Danny Baker has admitted he understands why the BBC sacked him over his ‘racist’ tweet about the Royal Baby. The 61-year-old has been fired from BBC Radio 5 Live following his tweet about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, which seemingly compared the baby to a chimpanzee. Meghan Markle is of mixed-race heritage, and her mother Doria Ragland is African-American. Speaking on LBC an hour after he was fired, Danny said he understood the BBC’s reasoning but called them ‘weasly’ in the way they went about it. He told James O’Brien: ‘When they rang up in this portentous tones this morning: “beyond the pale and abhorrent”. ‘I said “Yes it was, but you’re now giving credence to the idea that I thought aye, aye, I know how to suddenly reveal myself as a phantom racist after all these years”. ‘Would anyone in their right mind, even some of the more preposterous loons in Ukip, have turned around and put that out?’ Danny was fired this morning (Picture: Nick Edwards/DailyMail.com) Danny continued: ‘I can understand [why he was sacked]. I was given a lecture which I have to say I terminated after about 30 seconds with words I’ll leave you to fill in. I get that. I get the position I’m in now.’ He also said: ‘An old trope of mine, I used to do it on the radio, is monkeys dressed as famous people plus fairground music. Look, I put out this gag, it could have been any posh people – even my own grandkids, I think I would have stuck a photo out of them leaving the hospital. And people get in touch and people say “you know there’s a race thing in this?” So I take it down. You’re in the barrel. ‘The BBC then decided it was going to throw us under the bus and that stings. ‘It was a tremendously weasly thing to do.’ Danny said: ‘It’s what it comes down to. The intent has got to be everything. As soon as someone said Meghan’s… the thing was put up there as a joke about class. That’s what it was, it was supposed to be preposterous, toffs leaving [hospital]. I blushed, curdled that anyone could have thought that was the intent behind that photo. ‘It wasn’t only a joke, it was a mistake, a real huge blunder.’ Meghan is proud of her mixed-race heritage (Picture: Getty Images Europe) He also joked he was available for a job at the station. Host O’Brien had previously defended Baker, saying: ‘He often talks about chimpanzees dressed as famous people without any racial subtext whatsoever. Obviously the subtext changes hugely when the gag is applied to a child of ethnic minority. It changes, of course it does, but I don’t think that was even close to Danny Baker’s tweet when he sent that tweet because he does loads of stuff about monkeys and apes dressed as human beings. ‘The massive racist history of the conflation of gorillas and apes with people of colour is disgusting and I’m afraid it’s a matter of historical record. But I don’t think Danny Baker did that.’ Danny announced he’d been fired on Twitter, writing: ‘Just got fired from @bbc5live. For the record – it was red sauce. Always’ – a reference to the Sausage Sandwich Game on his show. Caption: Muzzed Danny Baker tweet after being fired by BBC He went on to lash out at his former employers: ‘He 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. #F***em.’ Last night, the radio host claimed that only a ‘diseased mind’ would think of the image he shared was racist, in tweets posted after he deleted the offending pic. He 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 its possible connotations got in touch, down it came. And that’s it. Now stand by for sweary football tweets.’ He also insisted the post was not meant to be seen as racist, telling a confused follower: ‘Connection never occurred to me till people were good enough to enlighten. ‘Little fella in posh suit. Anyway, deleted now.’ The Duchess of Sussex has been the target of racist abuse ever since the beginning of her relationship with Harry – so much so, that in November 2016, Kensington Palace issued a statement calling out ‘racial undertones’ in the press and horrible comments from trolls. The statement read: ‘His girlfriend Meghan Markle has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment. Some of this has been very public – the smear on a front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments.’ Got a showbiz story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page - we'd love to hear from you. MORE : Racism like Danny Baker’s tweet is usually explained away. I’m glad the BBC fired him MORE : Danny Baker’s career from BBC Radio 5 Live to ITV as he is fired over ‘racist’ royal baby tweet<doc-sep>Celeb obsessed? Get a daily dose of showbiz gossip direct to your inbox 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 Danny Baker has been sacked by BBC three times over the years and he blasted bosses as "pinheaded weasels" for letting him go. The disgraced radio star, 61, was axed for the third time this week over accusations he posted a racist tweet about the royal baby . It marks his second dismissal from BBC Radio 5 Live after previously losing his job there back in 1997. His first sacking came after he encouraged football fans to make a referee's life hell after he awarded a controversial penalty in an FA Cup tie between Leicester and Chelsea. Roger Mosey, controller of Radio 5 Live, said at the time that Baker crossed a line and it wasn't for the first time. (Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock) He said: "This wasn't the first occasion when he crossed the dividing line between being lively, humorous and controversial and being insulting to the audience." Baker went on to get sacked by the BBC once again in 2012, when his BBC London show was dropped. This time, he was so angry about the loss of his job he went on air to slam BBC bosses, calling them "pinheaded weasels". In an epic on-air rant, Baker said: "The show's been cancelled by the BBC. They don't want this any more. "It's a dirty rotten shame and a rotten way they did it. Nobody phoned me "Apparently they were planning on getting round to telling me. I don't want to go, I make no bones about it." Baker's third sacking came this week after he tweeted then deleted an image comparing Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's newborn baby Archie Harrison to a chimpanzee. The picture showed a couple walking hand-in-hand with the small animal, and Baker captioned it: "Royal baby leaves hospital." It was met with backlash as users believed Danny was mocking the Duchess of Sussex's racial heritage. Baker later tweeted: "Just got fired from @bbc5live. For the record - it was red sauce. Always." (Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock) He added: "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. F**kem . "Now it's started raining. Perfect. IntoEveryLife ." In an email sent to all 5 Live staff, controller Jonathan Wall explained: "Danny made a serious error of judgement on social media last night and it goes against the values we live and breathe on this radio station." Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at webcelebs@trinitymirror.com or call us direct 0207 29 33033<doc-sep>LONDON (Reuters) - The BBC has fired a British radio presenter who tweeted an image of a chimpanzee dressed in clothes below the caption “Royal Baby leaves hospital”. Meghan, wife of Prince Harry, gave birth in the early hours of Monday morning to a baby boy, Archie, the first mixed race child to be born into a senior position in British royalty in recent history. “Just got fired,” Danny Baker, a broadcaster with BBC Radio 5 Live, said on Twitter. The BBC said the tweet was a serious error of judgment that went “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 BBC said. Meghan, whose mother is African-American and father is white, has been the target of racist commentary on social media in the past.<doc-sep>
Danny Baker has been fired by the BBC after being accused of racism over a tweet about the royal baby that used a photo of a chimpanzee. The 61-year-old broadcaster tweeted that he had been dropped from Radio 5 Live, where he hosted a weekend show, following the online storm. And 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 also hit out at the executives who fired him, explaining: '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.' The 61-year-old had earlier apologised over the ‘stupid unthinking gag’ after it was widely criticised for being racist. He had posted an old photo of a couple holding the hands of a monkey dressed in a suit, captioning it: ‘Royal Baby leaves hospital'. Other Twitter users were quick to point out the problems with the image given the new child’s African heritage After Baker’s name trended on Twitter, he removed the image and apologised, saying: ‘’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.’ That did not quell the controversy and a few hours later he added: ‘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.’ Among those criticising Baker were journalist Afua Hirsch, who said: ‘So 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". Classic example of blaming those of us who call out racism for its existence.’ TalkRadio host Julia Hartley-Brewer – who previously defended Amber Rudd after she called Diane Abbott a ‘coloured woman’ –said: ‘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.’ In a series of tweets this morning, Baker also described being doorstepped by journalists over the incident. As he desribed it: 'Opened door, grinning Mail hack. "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.' And in another, he said: '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.' Occam's Razor is a philosophical theory that the simplest explanation is more likely to be the correct one. Many fans said they did not believe Baker - who has regularly joked about chimps dressed as famous people on his radio show – to be racist. But others pointed out that as a football pundit and fan he should have been aware of the racist monkey noises and banana-throwing that has blighted the sport. Published: 9 May 2019