Eurovision act Wild Youth to appear on tomorrow's Late Late Show

Irish pop band Wild Youth, businessman Tony Delaney and fashion advocate and activist Sinead Burke will take to the stage Friday night, guesting on RTE's The Late Late Show. 

Burke is anticipated to discuss her upcoming cover appearance on British Vogue, with Delaney opening up about his career in business.

The most anticipated guests the night, however, are the Eurovision hopefuls Wild Youth, who recently made headlines when it was announced they had cut ties with their choreographer and creative director, Ian Banham, after he published a series of controversial, transphobic and anti-vaxx tweets in March and April.

Wild Youth– made up of Conor O’Donohoe, Ed Porter, Callum McAdam, and David Whelan– made a statement to their Twitter account Tuesday, following Banham's departure:

"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 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

Later– Harry Potter author JK Rowling directly tweeted at the band, sharing her opinions on Banham's firing.

Her tweet directly referenced crimes by Zara Jade– a transgender woman who stabbed her partner, who Banham referred to in his postings. The author misgenders Jade throughout.

“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," wrote Rowling, going on to criticise the bands response as "preening, self-satisfied misogyny." There is no evidence that trans women are more dangerous sexual abusers in prisons than cisgender men or cisgender women. In fact, most attacks take place on trans women and trans men rather than cis women in prisons.

Wild Youth vocalist O'Donohoe recently shared that the band had no comment on Rowling's postings. RTE did not publish any comment. 

The band will perform at Eurovision this May against semi-final contestants Sweden, Norway and Finland.