Danny Baker says he is "paying the price" for his "genuine, naive and catastrophic mistake" after he was fired by the BBC over his controversial Twitter joke about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's new baby.
Danny Baker
In a now deleted tweet, the 61-year-old broadcaster shared a photo of a couple holding hands with a chimpanzee wearing clothes with the caption "Royal Baby leaves hospital", and many users accused the former Radio 5 Live presenter of mocking Duchess Meghan's racial heritage.
Following the immediate backlash, Danny tweeted an apology after deleting the offending post and said the offensive meaning behind it "never occurred" to him.
The broadcaster has now "formally apologised" in a string of tweets and attempted to explain his "awful gaffe" admitting that he "f****d up" and is "not feeling sorry for [himself]".
He wrote: "Following 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. (sic)"
Danny continued: "Deleting it immediately and apologising for the awful gaffe I even foolishly tried to make light of it. (My situation that is, not the racism involved.) Too late and here I am.
"I would like once and for all to apologise to every single person who, quite naturally, took the awful connection at face value. I understand that and all of the clamour and opprobrium I have faced since. I am not feeling sorry for myself. I fucked up. Badly.
"But it was a genuine, naive and catastrophic mistake. (sic) "
The presenter added: "The picture in context as presented was obviously shamefully racist. It was never intended so - seriously who on earth would 'go there'?
"Anyway i am now paying the price for this crass & regrettable blunder and rightly so. (sic)"