I know nothing about Danny Baker, other than (I presume) he used to play records on BBC Radio 1 (he's now been sacked).
Just in case you are unaware, on the day that Meghan Markle gave birth to little Master Archie, he posted a photograph on 'twitter' of an elegantly dressed middle aged couple leaving an impressive building, holding the hands of a Chimpanzee dressed in equally elegant human clothing. He entitled the photo 'Royal baby leaves hospital'. I refuse to re-post the photo itself, simply because it would perpetuate the nastiness. If you wish to see it, you'll find it everywhere.
During his subsequent squirming interview with Sky TV, Baker attempted to distance himself from any form of racism, claiming that he was unaware that both The Duchess of Sussex was of 'mixed race', and even that she'd been pregnant. If he truly expects anyone to believe that; he must take us for totally gullible mugs.
No; this was pure and utter racism of the worst sort. He might have thought it amusing for a very short while, but harsh criticism soon came thick and fast; and he removed it. Luckily for us, not before the evidence had been recorded. His bosses at the BBC fired him almost at once.
There is no doubt that in the privacy of their own homes, people might have doubts about the union of a 'Royal' with Ms Markle, but they would normally keep it to themselves. None of us is naive enough to think that these opinions don't exist; but, surely, we live in an age of tolerance, acceptance, and understanding, and people such as Baker should be taught a harsh lesson. Maybe he should even be taken to meet Harry, Meghan, and Archie, and made to apologise. They do seem like genuinely pleasant people.
I quite understand that Mr Baker comes from a very deprived background, and that his pro-Corbyn Socialist credentials insist that he hates all 'toffs' and Royalty; but when you combine such puerile class hatred with overt racism, you end up with an extremely nasty type of human being; of which Baker is a classic example.
I hope he's proud of himself.
37 comments:
The unrelenting coverage of Markle and her family in the papers would lead me to believe that, unless Baker were living under a very large rock, he would have certainly known that Meghan were of mixed heritage. It was a cheap joke that surely cost him.
Of course he knew, and in trying to weedle his way out of the controversy, he's made himself look even more stupid.
Stupid idiot. Saw that someone had been fired. They showed the photo on the news here.
A quick kick in the pants is what he deserved and what he got.
Not interested in the royals myself but hate any sort of fascism.
Heard it on our news here but haven't seen the photo as it was censored.
I don't suppose he would have behaved so stupidly had they been members of his own family.
There's nothing particularly special about the photo; I suppose it's vaguely amusing. But to search it out, and caption it as he did, was appalling.
I have no desire to see it.
He did at one point say that the photo was meant to represent the " media circus" that the royals have to put up with, which I can partly understand, but his thoughts obviously didn't go far enough to realise the racist side of it! When he started to state that he didn't know Meghan was pregnant or mixed race he lost any sympathy I might have had for him. A blatant lie that was.
I'd seen that photo before, mocking, I think, an affluent American couple who dressed their pet as a child. It came from, and belongs to, a totally different age. I wouldn't have thought that it would come up in the first few photos of a 'royal baby' search as he claimed.
He deserved the sack, and, as he has apparently been sacked by the BBC a few times before, I hope that this time he will not be allowed back.
He was making-up excuses as he went. There was no logic to any of it. He'd have better better simply saying that he was a 'racist'.
He seems very popular, so I quite expect one of the smaller music stations will employ him. He must be nearing retirement age anyway.
A very ill-considered thing to do, silly man.
I am heartily sick and tired of the whole Harry and Meghan hype over the past couple of years. This is just going to make it all drag on so much longer.
Exactly. You could hardly get sillier!
There's no question that there's been Meghan overkill, just as there was with Diana Spencer, but this was their happy moment (as for any young family), and this idiot does his best to spoil it for them. Not a good idea! I quite expect they'll move to the USA before long.
He took it down immediately and apologised. It is actually not his fault that it has dragged on like this, it is social media and the press. If it had been left at the apology on Twitter after it was taken down none of us or the world would have been any the wiser. I make no excuses for him, he is a twat, but to say that he is spoiling things for Meghan is just rubbish. I doubt she gives a shit about it, she will be too busy planning baby's outfits, press releases and what Harry does next.
If it was genuinely about the "media circus" and not racism it just shows what poor judgement he had for a man with such a long "career". I must admit I'm sick of the whole M and H saga but can't help thinking that baby is going to be gorgeous!
I suppose it could have been ignored in the days pre media - but not possible these days - and so that story drags on and on - perpetuation the racism and unpleasantness.
I don't agree with you. When the press should have been exclusively writing about the 'great event', instead it was focused on Baker.
I can't wait for them to move; if they intend to.
Well, at least for a while we didn't think of Brexit.
Not at all. All the newspapers had 6 to 8 page spreads on the birth and announcements orchestrated by Meghan. And what you say isn't down to Baker as I said, he took the offending tweet down immediately and it is the Press and twitter who have run with it. Until a few days ago I had never heard of Danny Baker and neither I guess would over half of the nation and didn't want to.
A stupid thing to tweet. Even more silly when he answered the door to reporters whilst wearing a fez!!
I remember him from years ago - think he used to work with Chris Evans. No doubt he'll be moving to Virgin Radio.
One of the lowbrow stations will probably offer him a zero-hours contract.
I don't know if H and R read the papers, but I quite expect her mother would have kept cuttings. It can't have been nice for them to see all this rubbish instead of cute baby pix.
Are you blind to the hundreds of cute baby photos they have had in the press?
Amen to that. The world through social media is too ready to bring down anything or anyone. I am not a royalist but the couple deserved the joy of a new baby.
It's not long ago, well I suppose it is long ago, when everybody suffered or enjoyed Spittin' Image which insulted everybody and his Rottweiler. And before that we had a character called Alf Garnett. Then one day everybody was Charlie Hebdo. Zeitgeist moves in mysterious ways. We must remember that blasphemy is punishable by death in many countries. Where boundaries lie today or yesterday is a difficulty we have to deal with. One day we may wake up to face the grim reality of a world where everything is censored. I'm not condoning Baker's photo. I haven't even seen it. But we are walking on eggshells. Bookshops are closing every day. Soon a computer will decided what we can look at. Censorship is increasing in all our lives.
Saw that report. Disgraceful. What some might say in private with humour and not nastiness, should not be said publically. That wasn't even funny. It was cruel. Funnier and fairer was a comment I saw, another baby born to welfare dependant parents.
I totally agree with your analysis. The whole business is crazy, but we live by crazy PC rules. If was the left who invented the whole bloody PC rubbish, so they must now live by it, and that includes super-lefty Baker. Live by the sword etc.
I don't know what to say any more. I find the whole episode disgraceful; but then I hate racism.
We have all done silly unthinking things
Should someone loose a job?
That's rather how I see it. It was their big day; one where you really don't want some idiot bringing it down to that level.
For that; yes.
I saw one of him wrapped in a white blanket.
You don't live here; perhaps that's why my comment about the newspaper coverage fell on deaf ears. They had super coverage in all the papers. You have got this post out of all proportion.
The photo of him wrapped in a blanket was the one released to the Press by Meghan. They released the birth news on Instagram. The papers used what what given to them and bolstered it up with old photos of Meghan and her mother to give 6 page spreads. You surprise me in this post and your comments.
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