Ireland’s Wild Youth have announced that they will no longer be working with creative director and choreographer Ian Banham for Eurovision 2023.
The decision comes following the discovery of a number of offensive tweets made by Mr. Banham: the content of which included frequent transphobic remarks, as well as disparaging comments made toward Ukraine. The comments were discovered by the ESC Discord team on Twitter.
Shortly afterward, Wild Youth took to Twitter to announce that they have immediately rescinded all involvement with Mr. Banham.
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. ❤️
— Wild Youth (@bandwildyouth) April 25, 2023
Lead singer Conor O’Donohoe also took to Twitter to share his support for those hurt by the tweets:
First off I want to apologise with my whole heart to anyone who has been hurt or even had to read such horrible tweets. He goes against everything I stand for , his tweets make me feel sick reading them. Writing this song and writing these lyrics was writing about what I believe… https://t.co/swwLMhNgZW
— Conor O Donohoe (@Conor_O_Donohoe) April 25, 2023
In another tweet, Wild Youth wrote that they were with Head of Delegation Michael Kealy when they noticed the tweets, and that Mr. Kealy and RTÉ were “as horrified as we were.”
UPDATE: Speaking to the BBC, RTÉ have now confirmed that they have quickly taken action to address the issue, and will not be working with Mr. Banham: “Ian Banham is no longer a member of Ireland’s Eurovision 2023 team. RTÉ won’t be making any further comment.”
Wild Youth will represent Ireland with their song ‘We Are One’ in Semi-Final One, on the 9th of May.
Are #YOU a fan of Wild Youth’s ‘We Are One’? Let us know in the comments below, on our forum, our Discord, or on social media, @ESCUnited!
