Wild Youth celebrate after winning Eurosong in February. RollingNews.ie
Wild Youth said it has cut ties with Ian Banham, who was announced as the Creative Director for Ireland's Eurovision performance back in February, after comments he made about transgender people began to circulate online.
"We have cut all ties with Ian Banham and will not have him on or near our team or Eurovision journey," Wild Youth said in a statement on April 25, adding that "We are so sorry for anyone offended by his comments.
The Irish group further added that Michael Kealy, an executive producer and director with RTÉ, was just as "horrified" by Banham's comments.
In a statement to the Irish Examiner, RTÉ said: "Ian Banham is no longer a member of Ireland's Eurovision 2023 team.
"RTÉ won't be making any further comment."
And just to note we were with @michaelkealy1 and both himself and @rte were as horrified as we were.
— Wild Youth (@bandwildyouth) April 25, 2023
The split comes after screenshots of Banham's transphobic comments, as well as his comments about the war in Ukraine and COVID vaccines, were shared by the Twitter account @ESCDiscord.
One screenshot shows Banham tweeting "Exactly! its a MAN! this clown world is ridiculous ..." to a tweet referencing transgender woman Zara Jade, who was jailed after stabbing and tying up a victim.
Wild Youth frontman Conor O'Donohoe said reading Banham's comments made him "feel sick."
Both O'Donohoe and Banham have since made their social media accounts private.
Wild Youth's statement was met with considerable pushback, including from British author JK Rowling, of "Harry Potter" fame.
"The re-traumatization of female rape survivors, including this man’s victims, on seeing him called a woman by the press counts for nothing, naturally," Rowling said on Twitter, including the hashtag #IStandWithIanBanham.
"The so-called kindness and inclusivity of @bandwildyouth is preening, self-satisfied misogyny.
"His (Banham's) crime is standing against the insanity of pretending knife-wielding rapists are women if they say they are."
Wild Youth is set to appear on RTÉ's Late Late Show on Friday evening where they will perform their Eurovision entry "We Are One."
Wild Youth is set to perform in the first Eurovision semi-final on Tuesday, May 9, at the Liverpool Arena in the UK.