JK Rowling has accused Ireland’s Eurovision act of “preening, self-satisfied misogyny” after they parted ways with their creative director over remarks he reportedly made on social media about transgender people.
On Tuesday (25 April), Irish act Wild Youth said they were cutting ties with Ian Banham and would no longer let him “near our team” after a screenshot circulated on Twitter of a post appearing to be from his profile from March.
Frontman Conor O’Donohoe said reading the post had made him “feel sick”.
The post in question seemingly criticised an article about Zara Jade, a trangender woman who stabbed her partner before tying her up and leaving with her bank card, which featured a headline referring to Jade as a “woman”.
The Independent has contacted Banham for comment.
On Wednesday, Rowling posted a defence of Banham, who has worked with artists such as Lily Allen, Kylie Minogue and Cheryl, alongside the hashtag #IStandWithIanBanham.
She wrote: “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.”
In another post, Rowling wrote: “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.”
In March, Jade was jailed for nine years with an additional three years on licence after pleading guilty to six offences including false imprisonment, assault and robbery. Jade is serving the sentence in a male prison.
Dublin band Wild Youth will perform their song “We Are One” at the Liverpool Arena next month during the first semi-final stage.
They tweeted: “Wild Youth is a band that stands for unity and kindness. 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 Eurovison journey. We are so sorry for anyone offended by his comments.”
Rowling regularly speaks out on issues surrounding gender identity, and has strongly denied accusations of transphobia.
She previously explained she was partly motivated to speak out because of her experience of domestic abuse and sexual assault.
Additional reporting by Press Association
