The DJ posted an image of a couple holding hands with a chimpanzee dressed in clothes and the caption: 'Royal baby leaves hospital.' A BBC disc jockey has been fired after using a picture of a chimpanzee in a tweet about the royal baby born to Meghan the Duchess of Sussex and her husband 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 baby Archie's heritage. His grandmother Doria Ragland is African American. Baker says the posting was an "enormous mistake." It has since been deleted. BBC Radio 5 Live controller Jonathan Wall said Baker "will no longer be presenting his weekly show for us."<doc-sep>Published 9:42 AM , May 09 2019 GMT+1 | Last updated 2:13 PM , May 09 2019 GMT+1 BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Danny Baker claims he has been sacked after sharing a picture on Twitter that has been called 'racist'. The 61-year-old had previously presented a weekend show on the station. The picture showed a monkey leaving a building while holding hands with a woman, with a man standing on the opposite side of the animal. The photograph was captioned: "Royal baby leaves hospital." Advert 10 Credit: Twitter Baker then subsequently tweeted in his defence: "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." He later added: "Connection never occurred to me till people were good enough to enlighten. Advert 10 "Little fella in posh suit. Anyway, deleted now." However, he then said: "Just got fired from @bbc5live." Credit: PA The BBC confirmed Baker's sacking shortly after via a statement in which a spokesperson said: "This was a serious error of judgement and goes against the values we as a station aim to embody. Advert 10 "Danny's a brilliant broadcaster but will no longer be presenting a weekly show with us." The statement caused great controversy because it appeared to make light of the Duchess of Sussex's racial heritage. The tweet was also posted just hours after the birth of the baby - named Archie Harrison Mountbatten Windsor - was announced. One person on Twitter said: One Twitter user 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" Advert 10 Credit: PA Another added: "How the fuck is anyone seriously arguing that that Danny Baker tweet was 'not racist'? "There's no other credible explanation for something containing such an obvious racist trope. "If you're performing mental gymnastics to excuse it, maybe ask yourself why." Advert 10 In the immediate aftermath, many people called for the BBC to take the action that they have now taken, including one Twitter user who said: "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."<doc-sep>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.<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.”