Following the backlash that followed his tweet of an image of a couple holding hands with a chimpanzee dressed in clothes with the caption: “Royal Baby leaves hospital“, former BBC presenter Danny Baker has apologised for his “enormous mistake.”
In a series of tweets, Baker offered a long apology on Twitter, claiming he was not aware that baby Archie was of mixed blood. The former BBC employee explains he wanted to latch onto the news cycle of the royal birth and chose the picture from a file of goof pictures. He says when he realised the enormity of his ignorance “waves of panic and revulsion washed over me. Fuck, what had I done? I needed no lessons on the centuries slurs equating simians and people of colour. Racism at it’s basest.”
Baker, who has since lost his gig with BBC5 over the tweet, also seems resigned to the outfall of his tweet, acknowledging that he is “paying the price for this crass & regrettable blunder.” He also thanked those who have been kind to him in the aftermath of the tweet.
“Anyway, I am now paying the price for this crass & regrettable blunder and rightly so,” he says. “Probably even this final word from me will extend the mania. (‘Dog whistle’ anyone?) I would like to thank friends on here for their kinder words and once again – I am so, so sorry,” Baker concludes.
