TO THE TOWER

BBC Fires Radio Host Accused of Racism for Comparing Royal Baby to Chimp

Broadcaster denies he was being racist.

The BBC doesn’t mess around when it comes to the royal baby. One of its leading radio hosts has been fired after he tweeted a picture mocking the royal family. A now-deleted tweet from Danny Baker showed an image of an old-timey couple holding hands with a chimp dressed in clothes with the caption: “Royal Baby leaves hospital.” Critics claimed he was comparing Harry and Meghan’s new mixed-race baby, Archie, to a chimpanzee. Following a backlash, the broadcaster insisted he didn’t mean to be racist, saying it was just “a joke about royals vs circus animals in posh clothes.” He went on: “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.” However, the BBC confirmed Thursday that Baker had been fired from his Saturday morning radio show.