Irish Eurovision entry Wild Youth to say they parted ways with creative director Ian Banham due to “different beliefs”.
Wild Youth will represent Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest next month in Liverpool and Banham have been working with them on their appearance on We Are One.
On Tuesday, Wild Youth tweeted that they were cutting “all ties” with Banham.
They also said that the group “represents unity and kindness” and that We Are One represents their beliefs.
Wild Youth are set to take part in the first Eurovision semi-final on May 9 and speaking to RTÉ, singer Conor O’Donohue said the split was due to ‘different beliefs’ but their performance will go as expected.
He said the band are creative “hands-on” and they know what staging should look like and their vision for the song is still there.
RTÉ confirmed Banham is no longer part of the Eurovision 2023 squad, but made no further comment today.
The Eurovision Song Contest grand final will take place in Liverpool on Saturday May 13, with Ireland taking part in the first semi-final on Tuesday May 9.
Ian recently came under fire for tweets allegedly made by Ian about trans people.
He had commented on an article in a BBC report about a transgender woman who was detained after stabbing her victim before tying her to a chair, saying: “That’s because he’s not a woman.”
The Harry Potter author came out and let it be known that she was on Ian’s side.
JK accused Wild Youth’s response of being “smoothing and smug misogyny.”
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