Danny Baker Explains Background To His "Disastrous" Chimpanzee Tweet

8 August 2019, 15:13 | Updated: 8 August 2019, 15:41

Danny Baker told James O'Brien how he ended up sending the controversial tweet that led to his sacking.

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The broadcaster was fired by the BBC after he posted an image on Twitter following the birth of Prince Archie showing a dressed up chimpanzee being led out of a door, with the slogan "Royal baby leaves hospital".

A Twitter storm exploded as people accused him of racism and the BBC ended up removing him from their schedules.

Addressing the tweet for the first time on Full Disclosure With James O'Brien, Danny reveals it all started with an absurdist feature on his radio show called 'Chimpanzees Dressed As Famous People Plus Fairground Music'.

He said: "The genesis and execution of that disastrous tweet is so trivial and absurd compared to its perception and consequences that it almost defies me talking about it."

Insisting there was no racial element implied, he claimed he didn't even know that the mother of the baby was Meghan Markle. Of the people that don't believe that explanation, he added: "They said 'but you're a broadcaster'. My shows are nothing if not absurd, slightly surreal.

"They don't know what, they think I'm sitting here bloviating." Then he added with a wink to James, "No disrespect."

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