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Wild Youth Fire Creative Director For Transphobic And Problematic Comments

By Joshua Donovan

Posted on April 27, 2023

Wild Youth (Eurovision Song Contest)

Irish pop rock band Wild Youth have severed ties with their creative director Ian Banham after several anti-trans tweets appeared on social media. The band, who will be representing Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest, announced the decision via Twitter, reports Pink News.

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

The bandmates of Wild Youth believe in kindness and unity

Officially, the band have not made it clear what led them to cut ties with their former creative director, but according to Pink News, Banham had a series of old tweets resurface which show him using transphobic language and make anti-vaccine insinuations.

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. pic.twitter.com/tknScvYPyv
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 26, 2023

In their statement, Wild Youth expressed their commitment to promoting unity and kindness, saying that their song represents their beliefs as a band. They also apologised to anyone who was offended by Banham’s comments and made it clear that he would no longer be part of their team or their Eurovision journey.

Many have called Wild Youth’s actions socially responsible in the wake of a rise in anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric online. One user says, “Knew this would go against everything you guys stand for. Proud of you for taking a stand.”

Knew this would go against everything you guys stand for. Proud of you for taking a stand
— MJ 🇸🇪🇫🇮🇪🇸 (@brayfordbird) April 25, 2023

Wild Youth’s decision to take a stand against Banham has incurred backlash in the replies as much as it has support. Some users believe Banham was righteous in calling out an abuser for allegedly faking being trans. But Ian Banham’s comments online go deeper than just the one example of alleged transphobia. According to Pink News, the former creative director misgendered TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney, called being trans a cult and openly denied Ukraine’s win at the last Eurovision Song Contest implying the win was sympathy.

Eurovision celebrates diversity through music. However, his remarks related to transphobia and Ukraine (and their victory last year) seem to run contrary to this.
We therefore strongly condemn @rte for using Mr. Banham as the staging director for this year's Irish entry. 2/3 pic.twitter.com/87RTYNQYsC
— ESC Discord (@ESCdiscord) April 25, 2023

The Eurovision Song Contest, which will take place in May, is one of the biggest music events in the world, with millions of viewers tuning in to watch the competition. With their strong stance against hate speech and discrimination, Wild Youth will be moving forward without Banham in a bold move to stand with their morals.