DJ at BBC fired after royal baby tweet with chimpanzee picture

Staff

6 years ago

FILE - In this May 13, 2013 file photo, Danny Baker poses for a photo in London. A BBC DJ has b ... — FILE – In this May 13, 2013 file photo, Danny Baker poses for a photo in London. A BBC DJ 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, May 9, 2019 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." (Yui Mok/PA via AP, file)

Royal fans John Loughery, left and Terry Hutt pose with flags and banners, outside Windsor Castle, in Windsor, south England, Tuesday, May 7, 2019, a day after Prince Harry announced that his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, had given birth to a boy. The as-yet-unnamed baby arrived less than a year after Prince Harry wed Meghan Markle in a spectacular televised event on the grounds of Windsor Castle that was watched the world over. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

People take pictures of the notice on an easel in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace, London, Tuesday, May 7, 2019, placed on Monday to formally announce the birth of a baby boy to Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. The as-yet-unnamed baby arrived less than a year after Prince Harry wed Meghan Markle in a spectacular televised event on the grounds of Windsor Castle that was watched the world over. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland)

The Royal Regiment of Scotland band march by Windsor Castle, in Windsor, south England, Tuesday, May 7, 2019, a day after Prince Harry announced that his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, had given birth to a boy. The as-yet-unnamed baby arrived less than a year after Prince Harry wed Meghan Markle in a spectacular televised event on the grounds of Windsor Castle that was watched the world over. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

LONDON — 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.”

Wall says Baker “made a serious error of judgment on social media.”