DARA Ó BRIAIN has come out in defence of Danny Baker following the BBC’s decision to sack the broadcaster over a controversial tweet sent out after the birth of royal baby Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
Baker was dismissed from his role on Radio 5 Live after tweeting out a picture of a couple leading a chimpanzee in a suit out of a hospital alongside the caption: "Royal baby leaves hospital".
Almost immediately Baker was inundated with comments accusing him of likening Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's son to a monkey.
Baker took the tweet down and issued an immediate apology, insisting there was no racist intent behind the original posting.
However, the BBC decided to part ways with the presenter over what they deemed to be a serious error in judgement.
Ó Briain has come out in defence of Baker though, insisting that Baker had “mistakenly” caused offence with the tweet and that the initial apology he made should have been enough to settle the matter.
What? Danny Baker got fired? But he immediately apologised and deleted the tweet! I mean, literally, in the event of mistakenly causing offence, what else can you do? Genuinely amazed by that.
— Dara Ó Briain (@daraobriain) May 9, 2019
He tweeted: "What? Danny Baker got fired?
"But he immediately apologised and deleted the tweet!
"I mean, literally, in the event of mistakenly causing offence, what else can you do? Genuinely amazed by that."
Despite defending Baker, Ó Briain was keen to stress he wasn’t “excusing” Danny over the controversial tweet.
"Also amazed by how many thought that by posting this, I was excusing the original tweet. Of course I wasn’t,” he said.
Also amazed by how many thought that by posting this, I was excusing the original tweet. Of course I wasn’t. The Irish had a century of that monkey shit too, y’know (cf Punch magazine). Ultimately, though, I’d like that to hope if/when I fuck up, you might accept an apology...
— Dara Ó Briain (@daraobriain) May 9, 2019
"The Irish had a century of that monkey s**t too, y’know.
"Ultimately, though, I'd like that to hope if/when I f**k up, you might accept an apology."
