[News] POLL TIME - Danny Baker’s tweet

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

If that’s what you want to believe from that Millwall fan (pigeon holes Baker)

Can you not reference pigeons please.

 

[Stato]

Radio 5 have lost me as a listener. Every Saturday morning was Baker and Fighting Talk, often sticking with Mark Chapman when he appeared at 12:00. No investigation, no discussion, no warning, no nuance, no understanding, no loyalty, no appreciation of past character. They've not only sacked him, but have indicated that they believe the reactionary labelling of him as a person with racist intent. I would suspect that the BBC's craven approach to anything royal probably has something to do with this knee jerk reaction.

 

[Icy Gull]

Can you not reference pigeons please.

So it’s OK to reference holes? Where does it end

 

[Goldstone1976]

So it’s OK to reference holes? Where does it end

Cervix.

Coat.

 

[MattBackHome]

His radio show was great. I'm sure he'll pop up somewhere else soon.

 

[Hillian1]

Sacked for a chimp joke.

It's PG gone mad.

 

[Willow]

It’s no surprise to me that fans of Danny Baker will support him and won’t understand the fuss, equally it was no surprise that fans of Clarkson jumped to his defence after his ridiculous behaviour.

Not the same at all, is it? Clarkson did actually lamp someone with intent.

 

[Goldstone1976]

Sacked for a chimp joke.

It's PG gone mad.

Post of the day.

 

[Stato]

how else do you intend a picture of a chimp, with reference to a mixed race baby?

For years Danny Baker has had a reoccurring feature on his radio shows where he presents the scenario of a door in an empty field and tells listeners that three monkeys will walk out the door dressed as famous people whilst fairground music plays in the background. It's a silly, absurdist idea that may not be appreciated by many, but is completely in keeping with his love of any animal based humour, see his stories about his family dogs and his continued defence of the appalling 'Pets Win Prizes'. He has had all sorts of famous people suggested over the years and the humour was always based on the listener imagining a monkey dressed in an outfit that made them look like Shakespeare, or Harpo Marx, Fidel Castro or Bob Marley. There was never any race element to the bit. It was merely the 'Don't monkeys look funny dressed as people?' idea that PG Tips did ads based on for years. His joke didn't even have the animal cruelty element as it was completely imaginary.

Unfortunately, #Prodnose, as he would probably freely admit, has always been fairly convinced of his own genius, and wrapped up in his own joke, obviously did not give a thought to what this could look like to those who didn't understand the context. When he realised his mistake, he deleted, explained and apologised. Too late: the villagers were already on their way with burning torches. The Twitter outrage should have been the end of it, but the BBC management, once staffed by public school types who would always put principle over career, is now staffed with public school types who would throw their own gran to the wolves if it would advance their career a single notch.

 

[Tim Over Whelmed]

Toe the party line.
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/toe+the+line

Thank you, Sir.

 

[Fungus]

Daily Mail knocking on the door of "Baker's £2 million house" then.

Naturally, as always, they MUST include the property value of whoever it is they are badgering

Ironic, given the value of Archie's family's house(s).

 

[Barham's tash]

You're missing the point.

Baker tweeted a picture of a CHIMP dressed as a baby, on the occasion of this royal birth.

All over social media (including this very thread) fans of Baker are telling us that there was clearly no racial intent, as he'd posted the very same image previously, on the occasion of other royal births.

If that is true, then they'd have a good point, and it would mitigate strongly in Baker's favour.

And yet none of these 'many previous tweets' have been retweeted at all, to support the argument. Seems odd.

Primarily because it would appear Twitter doesn’t cache pages from 2013 - it might via the desktop version but not via the app - as I just tried. I distinctly remember it’s use for the arrival of George.

He’s so far removed from being racist and this ridiculous propensity for being faux-fended is astonishing.

The number of people effectively saying “I’ve never heard of him before this so have very little frame of reference or context but I’ve immediately jumped to the conclusion he’s racist and therefore DEMAND for him to be sacked” is nothing short of ludicrous.

It’s reached sickening levels.

This and the massively entitled nature of our increasing desire for instant gratification leave me to really despair for society over the next 20 years or so.

 

[Publius Ovidius]

Radio 5 have lost me as a listener. Every Saturday morning was Baker and Fighting Talk, often sticking with Mark Chapman when he appeared at 12:00. No investigation, no discussion, no warning, no nuance, no understanding, no loyalty, no appreciation of past character. They've not only sacked him, but have indicated that they believe the reactionary labelling of him as a person with racist intent. I would suspect that the BBC's craven approach to anything royal probably has something to do with this knee jerk reaction.

To be fair, it’s not the first time he has been sacked from the bbc.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

how else do you intend a picture of a chimp, with reference to a mixed race baby?

Surely mixed race isn't the connection though is it? would it not have been racist if it was posted in regard to a black family?

Personally I didn't consider the ethnicity of the child when I first saw the tweet.
It was only when I read the responses that I understood how others had taken it.

That isn't the first thing I think of when I think of Meghan or her child.
She is famous for far more than her ethnicity, isn't she?

 

[Tim Over Whelmed]

Makes me laugh that the Mail are all over this, the same Daily Mail that report so biasedly on immigration, lower classes and anyone under 40 enjoying themselves yet smother their pages with click bait, near naked women and blatant advertorials dressed up as news stories. Even went so far as to tell you how you can buy a KFC £4 meal for £2 like it was some genius life hack!

 

[Paris]

For a 4th time ? Unlikely.

Maybe he'll end up back on TalkSPORT with his old mate Danny Kelly. Hope so, I used to like their show. I might even breach my TalkSPORT embargo if that happened (podcast version obvs, I cannot deal with the incessant ads on that station).

 

[Fungus]

What's the betting he'll host HIGNFY next week?

 

[Worthing exile]

He is neither a Prince, nor of Sussex he is just Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.

You wish?

He will go to a Public School, faff around in the Armed Forces for a couple of years so that he can wear a uniform and medals on the balcony with the rest of them, do a few public engagements a year, live in nice 'social housing' in London or Windsor and pick up a nice retainer from the tax man via his Great Gran.

 

[DumLum]

Many people would have looked at his tweet and not seen any racism because like he has said I believe he didn't mean any.
Compare that with Lord Sugar's racist Tweet last summer that was obviously racist. The BBC still show the Apprentice though!

 

[Thunder Bolt]

You wish?

He will go to a Public School, faff around in the Armed Forces for a couple of years so that he can wear a uniform and medals on the balcony with the rest of them, do a few public engagements a year, live in nice 'social housing' in London or Windsor and pick up a nice retainer from the tax man via his Great Gran.

Evidence of Peter Philips or Viscount Lindley doing it?