Is broadcaster Danny Baker a complete oaf or a misunderstood media genius? To understand the furore which greeted his unfortunate tweet about the new royal baby and resulted in a very public sacking, you need to know about his background. Danny and I go back 40 years – two working class people who managed (against all the odds) to make a living out of working for the BBC, an organisation where (even in 2019) the over-educated and middle class dominate. We’re proof that in modern Britain, social mobility still moves at a glacial pace. For all the BBC trumpets its ethnic, gay and gender-fluid presenters, one category is conspicuously absent on the radio and television – white working class people. Especially Londoners. It’s easier to appear on the BBC if you have a northern, Scottish or Welsh accent than if you come (like Danny does) from Deptford in London’s former dockland. Danny Baker is not a racist. Over-hasty, excitable, a blabbermouth – but not racist. I gave Danny his first job in television, back in 1980. We’d met a few years earlier when he ran a fanzine called Sniffin’ Glue, and I was making a documentary about punk. Danny had turned down a place at grammar school and left secondary modern at 14, worked in a record shop and later boasted he had flogged stuff to Elton John. His motor mouth was legendary, even back in the 1980s. Danny cannot take any kind of criticism or comment without flying off the handle – exactly like me. Once, I phoned and asked him to stop what he was doing and return to the office. He ran to London’s South Bank from Carnaby Street and collapsed unable to breathe – I dragged him to the local A&E department where doctors confirmed it was nothing more than a fit of rage and fury and he had to be talked down. Royal baby pictures through history Show all 15 1 /15 Royal baby pictures through history Royal baby pictures through history Prince Louis of Cambridge Born 23 April 2018 to Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge PA Royal baby pictures through history Princess Charlotte of Cambridge Born 2 May 2015 to Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge PA Royal baby pictures through history Prince George of Cambridge Born 22 July 2013 to Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge PA Royal baby pictures through history Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Born 15 September 1984 to Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales PA Royal baby pictures through history Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Born 15 September 1984 to Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales PA Royal baby pictures through history Prince William, Duke of Cambridge Born 21 June 1982 to Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales PA Royal baby pictures through history Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex Born 10 March 1964 to Queen Elizabeth II and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh PA Royal baby pictures through history Prince Andrew, Duke of York Born 19 February 1960 to Queen Elizabeth II and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh PA Royal baby pictures through history Prince Andrew, Duke of York Born 19 February 1960 to Queen Elizabeth II and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh PA Royal baby pictures through history Anne, Princess Royal Born 15 August 1950 to Queen Elizabeth II and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh PA Royal baby pictures through history Charles, Prince of Wales Born 14 November 1948 to Queen Elizabeth II and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh PA Royal baby pictures through history Charles, Prince of Wales Born 14 November 1948 to Queen Elizabeth II and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh PA Royal baby pictures through history Queen Elizabeth II Born 21 April 1926 to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother PA Royal baby pictures through history Queen Elizabeth II Born 21 April 1926 to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother PA Royal baby pictures through history King Edward VIII Born 23 June 1894 to King George V and Queen Mary I am not an apologist for Danny Baker’s pet obsessions, football and working-class humour. I once listed cockney culture as something I would dump in the bin on the BBC comedy show Room 101. What Danny represents, though, is the large section of the population who feel they don’t get a voice on “posh” channels – exactly like Nigel Farage’s diehard fans. His obsession with sausage sandwiches is something you’d probably never understand if you didn’t come from a house with an outside toilet and a father who supported a second rate club and did the football pools every week. Since I started my career on television in 1975, I’ve struggled not to be categorised as a fake cockney – but Danny Baker delights in celebrating his roots and his (dying) culture, has written three volumes of memoirs and is currently touring a stand-up show in which he holds forth (like Ken Dodd) for three hours at a stretch. It’s impossible to get in a black cab in London without the driver naming Danny as his favourite broadcaster. We live in an era of hyper-sensitivity, with nuance and tone far more important than 10 years ago. As a broadcaster and journalist, it’s sometimes hard to keep up to speed with what you can and can’t say in case it causes offence. On television and radio, balance is paramount, even when it is patently ridiculous. Polemics are forbidden unless we present an opposing point of view. When I dared to criticise the Duchess of Sussex for allowing her friends to talk to a US magazine, I got called a racist. It is impossible to make any comment other than adulatory about Meghan without being trashed on social media. For pity’s sake, can we rein all that in a tad? The Duchess even has George Clooney leaping to her defence every five minutes. There needs to be reasoned debate in modern society, an allowance that it’s OK to be a republican, the ability to say that perhaps the royals live in a protected and pampered world. That there is a clear contradiction between wanting privacy but announcing your baby on Instagram – a fake medium if ever there was one. Danny’s huge mistake was not to understand that black people would be completely offended by his post, and that is appalling. Once again the motormouth blabbed without considering the result, and he continued to sound off on his doorstep to the waiting press. But should Baker have been sacked if he has sincerely apologised? If I say (on balance) perhaps not, am I a racist by default? I once lived with a Jamaican boyfriend for five years, but get called racist regularly – infuriating to say the least. ✕ Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events In modern Britain, hypersensitivity is rampant, a paralysing disease that’s out of control. So many topics are on the “red alert” list on social media or in print, encouraging us to constantly self-censor in order to avoid an unnecessary confrontation that might rub someone up the wrong way. We are in danger of following the pattern established by some of our universities who “no-platform” anyone whose views could be “upsetting” – that is, are not held by the politically-correct students. Danny Baker’s demise came from an unthinking naivety, and from a man prone to act before pausing to reflect. But the BBC’s response is an uncomfortable reminder that we are becoming a society where anything a bit prickly and uncomfortable must be swept from view and sanitised instantly. It might have been better for the broadcaster and their over-excitable employee to have resolved the situation through a live television debate. It would have made far more compelling viewing than Question Time. The BBC is in danger of becoming beige and bland – not a true reflection of the people it serves.<doc-sep>Until Wednesday evening, Danny Baker enjoyed a reputation as a comedy writer, TV personality, disc jockey, raconteur and cancer survivor. For almost 40 years, he’s graced the airwaves with his unique brand of irreverent, if often highly opinionated, take on everyday life, current affairs, gossip, entertainment and sport. But yesterday, the 61-year-old docker’s son’s intended comedic take on ‘class and privilege’ – one of his long-standing obsessions – left him forced to appear on his doorstep in south-east London to defend himself against claims that behind his cheeky persona there beats the heart of a virulent racist. In Baker’s view, that was a grotesque over-reaction to an honest mistake. He called the BBC’s response a ‘masterclass of pompous faux-gravity’ in which Radio 5 Live ‘literally threw me under the bus’. His conversation with station controller Jonathan Wall ended with the words: ‘F*** you, and f*** off!’ Yesterday, Danny Baker's intended comedic take on ‘class and privilege’ left him forced to appear on his doorstep in south-east London to defend himself against claims that behind his cheeky persona there beats the heart of a virulent racist He became one of the hottest properties in broadcasting – a key player behind Chris Evans’s 1990s show TFI Friday and developer of the football phone-in format on radio. He was photographed drinking with Evans and footballer Paul Gascoigne (pictured) Whoever you believe is in the right, this unseemly story raises important questions not just about race and class, but also our entire social media culture. After all, barely a day seems to pass without a public figure inadvertently igniting a so-called Twitter storm, and where a single careless post, uploaded in a couple of seconds, can upend a person’s entire existence. As to the rights and wrongs of such comments – if there is any form of moral code in today’s modern-day Wild West which is the internet – they tend to hinge on the issue of intent. Baker might have form as a tricky employee (he’s now been sacked by the BBC three times) but he’s never previously been accused of xenophobia, and even the most vehement critic of his tweet would concede that it was likely to be the product of stupidity: inadvertently, rather than deliberately, racist. Indeed, it should be noted that he’s been comparing public figures to apes for years. A long-standing feature of his show has been a segment called ‘Monkeys dressed as famous people plus fairground music’. A few of the celebrities were from ethnic minorities. It never sparked a single complaint. Ape with five-year-old's brain The image that Baker tweeted is from 1925 and shows Jo Mendi, a performing chimpanzee who delighted US audiences of that time, with Gertrude Bauman, the wife of his trainer, the showman Lew Backenstoe. They are with an unidentified man. The picture was taken outside a Tennessee courthouse where the notorious Scopes Monkey Trial, involving a teacher accused of breaking the law by teaching evolution, was taking place. Jo Mendi was claimed to be as clever as a five-year-old child and he went on to appear in films. He died in 1930, but a string of chimps subsequently performed under the name. The image that Baker tweeted is from 1925 and shows Jo Mendi, a performing chimpanzee who was claimed to be as clever as a five year old Advertisement The problem with his Baby Sussex tweet, however, was one of context. For hundreds of years, the shocking concept that black people are less evolved than whites has been used to justify slavery, bigotry and the very worst excesses of colonialism. Sadly, it remains a common factor behind the lynchings and civil rights abuses in America in the last century. Its ugly head was raised often during the Obama presidency. In one disgraceful high-profile incident, the white mayor of a town in West Virginia called First Lady Michelle Obama an ‘ape in heels’. Danny Baker’s tweet, about a child whose ancestors were slaves, carried similar overtones. Although he says this was never intended, his critics argue that no one could have failed to notice that the image was highly offensive. Claiming ignorance is no defence. Indeed, they say, if any person was asked in the street to identify three characteristics of Meghan, her racial background would be one. Baker’s tweeted photo was described as ‘old-school prejudice and racism at its peak’ by Charlene White, the first black woman to present ITV’s News At Ten. She added: ‘And for a trusted broadcaster working at a public service broadcaster to feed that prejudice? It’s unacceptable.’ London Hughes, a prominent black comedian, claimed Baker, with whom she has worked, ‘knew full well’ what he was suggesting as all comedians see jokes from every angle. ‘He knew it was racist, thought it was funny and posted it anyway,’ she said. There was also criticism of Baker’s initial apology saying that any racial connotations had ‘never occurred to me because, well, mind not diseased’. As critics pointed out, his apology suggested that he believed people who had been offended by the image were mentally ill. The celebrated writer Afua Hirsch remarked: ‘Not only does Danny Baker post an image comparing a baby with African heritage to an ape, but he has the audacity to say the 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.’ Of course, Baker has many defenders. TV writer Daniel Maier said anyone who knew Baker or his work would never ‘reasonably infer racist intent’. Perhaps, supporters wondered, Baker should merely have been suspended rather than sacked. Indeed, he’s long argued that class prejudice runs through the world of entertainment. The son of a Bermondsey docker and petty thief, he grew up in a flat overlooking the infamous ‘torture barn’ where the Richardson crime gang used pliers and electrodes on their enemies. After leaving school at 14 to work in a record shop, he started a punk fanzine called Sniffin’ Glue and then worked for the New Musical Express. Yesterday’s demise won’t silence him. He produces a football podcast with Gary Lineker – who, despite his proud status as one of Twitter’s most right-on celebrities – was conspicuously silent yesterday. Pictured: Baker on I'm a Celebrity in 2016 If all else fails, Baker can release another comedy DVD. His most successful, a lucrative series depicting footballing bloopers, is called Danny Baker’s Own Goals And Gaffs [sic] In the early 1980s, he was recruited to TV by Janet Street Porter, working on youth shows for London Weekend Television, writing for a host of comedy shows and fronting the occasional quiz show such as Pets Win Prizes. He became one of the hottest properties in broadcasting – a key player behind Chris Evans’s 1990s show TFI Friday and developer of the football phone-in format on radio. He was photographed drinking with Evans and footballer Paul Gascoigne. Yet despite the success, his relationship with the BBC was often tetchy. In 1997, Baker was sacked from his 5 Live show for encouraging listeners to abuse a referee who had given a hotly contested penalty in an FA Cup tie. ‘If you didn’t know any better, you would say the fellow was corrupt,’ he declared. ‘Football has a maggot and that maggot is referees. Most of them need a good slap round the face.’ Baker, a Millwall fan, accused his BBC bosses of failing to understand the frustrations of working-class fans. In 2012, he delivered a vitriolic two-hour rant against executives at BBC Radio London after learning that they intended to cancel his programme. He called his bosses ‘weasels’, saying: ‘I hope their abacus comes undone and they choke on the beads.’ At the time, he was undergoing treatment for mouth and throat cancer, which led to portions of his throat and tonsils being removed. It wasn’t until 2016 that he was declared cancer-free. Undaunted, he made headlines again by wishing cancer on ‘greasy, vampiric’ officials at Lewisham Council for failing to support Millwall FC in a planning row. Yesterday’s demise won’t silence him.<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.”<doc-sep>
Danny Baker, the outspoken radio DJ, has never been far from the spotlight, nor the door, at the BBC: this is the third time he has left the broadcaster amid acrimony. His most recent sacking, over a tweet appearing to liken the new royal baby Archie to a chimpanzee, brings Baker’s career at BBC Radio 5 Live full circle after the channel dropped him in 1997 for crossing “the line between being humorous and controversial and being insulting” when he called on football fans to make a referee’s life hell. An irrepressible figure on British airwaves since the 1990s and pioneer of the inclusive, personable, and at times eccentric, broadcasting style that has since become the norm, Baker has the knack of effortlessly making both the phone-in caller and the listener feel as if they are in his studio. Now, however, he appears increasingly isolated and facing allegations of racism despite his “sincere apologies for the stupid unthinking gag pic”. Baker, born to a working-class family in south-east London in 1957, originally made his name as a journalist for a punk fanzine, Sniffin’ Glue, before going on to work at NME, later presenting the television show Twentieth Century Box which investigated London’s youth culture. A roving reporter on The Six O’Clock Show and the face of programmes such as Win, Lose Or Draw and Pets Win Prizes, Baker then wrote for Chris Evans’s TFI Friday Channel 4 show as his prolific radio career continued to gain steam. Soon the lifelong Labour party supporter was lauded as the “ultimate geezer” and became a mainstay on topical TV shows, where he often seemed to capture the mood of many across the UK. Describing himself as “one of the more bumptious ants” to Desert Island Discs when discussing his career’s upward trajectory, Baker dismissed the idea he was blessed with good fortune. “I don’t feel that’s somehow lucky when you look around at some of the half-wits and boss-eyed bozos who people this business and they are running departments,” he said. Always unafraid to publicly criticise his BBC bosses, he dubbed them “pinheaded weasels” and expressed his wish that the decision-makers “choked” on their abacus beads after his show was forced to move slots in 2012. Baker said goodbye that time with a venomous parting shot: “By the way, nice way to treat a bloke who had cancer.” The 61-year-old had his saliva glands and taste buds removed in an agonising period of treatment following chemotherapy and radiotherapy for cancer in 2011. Five years later, the DJ was the first celebrity to leave the 2016 I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here! despite being the last person in. “My winning personality once again descends upon the nation,” he quipped at the time. His appearance on the show followed the publication of a critically acclaimed three-volume autobiography, Going to Sea in a Sieve, which inspired BBC sitcom Cradle to Grave. The Danny Baker Show is likely to find a new home soon – people would still tune in to play his Sausage Sandwich Game on Saturday morning – but even his most adoring listeners will surely begin to question whether his brand of humour has passed its sell-by date.