The Harry Potter author used the hashtag ‘#IStandWithIanBanham’ (Picture: Samir Hussein/WireImage)
JK Rowling has hit out at the band Wild Youth, who are set to represent Ireland at Eurovision 2023, for sacking their creative director over posts lambasted for being transphobic.
On Tuesday April 25, the group announced that they had cut ties with Ian Banham, stressing in a statement that they stood for ‘unity and kindness’ after posts allegedly made by Banham on social media surfaced.
‘Our song represents our beliefs as a band. We have cut all ties with Ian Banham and will not have him on or near our team or Eurovision journey. We are so sorry for anyone offended by his comments,’ Wild Youth said.
In a separate statement, band member Conor O’Donohue issued an apology with his ‘whole heart’ to ‘anyone who has been hurt or even had to read such horrible tweets’, saying that reading the screenshotted posts made him ‘feel sick’.
Rowling, who has frequently sparked controversy for her remarks about the trans community, has spoken out against the Eurovision act’s decision, using the hashtag ‘#IStandWithIanBanham’.
She tweeted a screenshot of a BBC News story about a transgender woman called Zara Jade, who was jailed after stabbing a victim and tying them to a chair.
The Harry Potter author wrote in her tweet: ‘The re-traumatisation of female rape survivors, including this man’s victims, on seeing him called a woman by the press counts for nothing, naturally. The so-called kindness and inclusivity of @bandwildyouth is preening, self-satisfied misogyny. #IStandWithIanBanham.’
Wild Youth axed Banham from their team after a Twitter account going by the handle @ESCdiscord uploaded screenshots of tweets that he allegedly posted, including a response to the news of Jade’s arrest, which read: ‘Exactly ! its a MAN! This clown world is ridiculous.’
After sharing her first tweet about Banham’s sacking, Rowling followed it up with a second message that read: ‘For those confused as to why Ian Banham was fired and publicly lambasted by @bandwildyouth, here’s one of his ‘horrifying’ tweets. His crime is standing against the insanity of pretending knife-wielding rapists are women if they say they are.’
Wild Youth said that they had ‘cut all ties’ with Banham (Picture: PA/@ianbanham)
In a tweet that ESC Discord posted on Tuesday morning, it also included a screenshot of another supposed comment that Banham made regarding a video of transgender actress Dylan Mulvaney.
After one person tweeted in response to the clip: ‘I’ve never met a woman that acts like this,’ Banham allegedly responded: ‘That’s because he’s not a woman.’
In further tweets that Banham supposedly posted, he appeared to have criticised Ukraine being crowned the winners of Eurovision 2022.
‘Congrats United Kingdom for winning @Eurovision,’ he’s said to have tweeted on May 15 last year, as well as the post: ‘There’s a reason they call it the Eurovision ‘SONG’ contest!!!!!!!!!! Not Eurovision ‘SUPPORT’ contest.’
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He also supposedly responded to a GB News story about the World Health Organisation warning about potential deaths following any rise in Covid-19 cases by writing: ‘Oh starting to ramp up the fear as the Ukraine plot is fading?’
Banham’s Twitter account is currently set to protected, so Metro.co.uk was unable to check if the alleged tweets could be found on his channel.
Metro.co.uk previously contacted Ian Banham for comment.
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The band Wild Youth said that they had ‘cut all ties’.