Danny Baker will not face police action over his ‘racist’ royal baby tweet, it has been confirmed.
The broadcaster lost his job last week after tweeting a joke about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s son featuring a picture of a chimpanzee, the day after the Royals posed with their new arrival, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.
After receiving a complaint, Scotland Yard carried out a routine review into Danny’s controversial post, but have now ruled it is not a criminal offence.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said (via Evening Standard): “Having reviewed the comments made, we do not consider that a criminal threshold has been met and as such we will be taking no further action.”
After apologising for his tweet, Danny was dismissed by the BBC who dropped him from his weekly 5 Live radio show for going against the corporation’s values.
The 61-year-old went on to blast his bosses for their handling of the situation and said he was trying to make a point about class.
Speaking to journalists outside his London home, he said it was “weaselly for the BBC to chuck us under the bus”.
He later apologised “once and for all” in a fresh thread of Twitter posts, reflecting on “one of the worst days of my life”.
“I just want to formally apologise for the outrage I caused and explain how I got myself into this mess. I chose the wrong photo to illustrate a joke. Disastrously so,” he told his followers.
“In attempting to lampoon privilege & the news cycle I went to a file of goofy pictures & saw the chimp dressed as a Lord and thought, ‘That’s the one!’
“Had I kept searching I might have chosen General Tom Thumb or even a baby in a crown. But I didn’t. God knows I wish had.”
Danny went on to receive a standing ovation at his first live show since the controversy on Sunday night.
The comedian brought his Good Time Charlie’s Back stand-up show to the Nottingham Theatre Royal and arriving on stage, he admitted: “I genuinely didn’t know what the atmosphere would be like tonight.”