JK Rowling, 57, has taken to Twitter to blast Ireland’s 2023 Eurovision act Wild Youth.
The Harry Potter author accused the group of “preening, self-satisfied misogyny” after they axed their creative director ahead of Eurovision taking place in Liverpool, over comments he reportedly made on social media about transgender people.
On Tuesday, Wild Youth said they were parting ways with Ian Banham and would no longer let him “near our team” after a screenshot shared on Twitter, showing a post that appeared to be from his account.
The band’s frontman Conor O’Donohoe went on to tell fans that reading the tweet had made him “feel sick”.
The post referred to an article about Zara Jade, a transgender 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”.
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In March, Jade was imprisoned for nine years with an additional three years on licence after pleading guilty to six offences; including false imprisonment, assault and robbery, to serve the time in a male prison.
After news of the Eurovision row emerged, Rowling spoke out in defence of the creative director, who has worked with artists including Lily Allen, Kylie Minogue and Cheryl, alongside the Twitter hashtag #IStandWithIanBanham.
The writer tweeted: “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.
Dublin band Wild Youth are set to perform their song We Are One at the Liverpool Arena during the first semi-final, with the hopes of making it to the grand final next month.
Rowling has been very vocal about the issue of gender identity in recent years.
The author behind the Harry Potter franchise has also strongly denied accusations of transphobia.
She previously told fans she was partly motivated to speak out on he subject because of her experience of domestic abuse and sexual assault.
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