Following the heinous remarks Liam Payne made about One Direction and his ex-bandmate Zayn Malik, an absolute shitstorm has kicked off on social media.
ICYMI: Liam Payne appeared on Logan Paul‘s terribly named Impaulsive podcast. Specifically, he spent a load of time talking about Zayn Malik and is now getting absolutely roasted by stans and celebs alike.
One such celeb is Lizzo who dragged the singer on TikTok.
“I don’t know who lied to that poor boy, but we all know he was not the front man,” she said. Facts tho.
@lizzo ☕️
Amid the backlash, Liam issued a statement on Twitter in which he walked back some of his comments.
“Guys – I wouldn’t normally comment on this stuff but when its your family it’s hard to let it slide,” he began.
“They mentioned a specific incident involving Zayn which I responded to – but listening back maybe I didn’t articulate myself as well as I could have.
“I was saying that there will always be things we disagree on but that I will always, always be on his side. That’s family. Zayn is my brother and I will stand by him forever.”
Guys – I wouldn’t normally comment on this stuff but when its your family it’s hard to let it slide.
They mentioned a specific incident involving Zayn which I responded to – but listening back maybe I didn’t articulate myself as well as I could have.
— Liam (@LiamPayne) June 2, 2022
I was saying that there will always be things we disagree on but that I will always, always be on his side. That’s family. Zayn is my brother and I will stand by him forever.
— Liam (@LiamPayne) June 2, 2022
In his interview, Liam said: “There’s many reasons why I dislike Zayn and there’s many reasons why I’ll always, always be on his side.”
OK Liam, bit of a curveball there.
Liam Payne then also weirdly and unnecessarily brought up Zayn’s parents.
“If I had had to go through what he went through — with his growth and whatever else… my parents are overly supportive to the point where it’s annoying at times,” Payne said.
“Zayn had a different upbringing in that sense.”
Honestly, what the actual fuck? It just feels so weird of Liam to bring up Zayn Malik’s family life like this. No one asked, sir.
Zayn has always talked about how supportive Trisha is & how much he respects Yaser. All he wanted to do was get his parents a home & make them proud.
Liam Payne going on air calling out zayns upbringing is just so offensive if yk how hard his parents worked for their family.— m 🕊 (@luco_zain) May 31, 2022
The Zayn chat didn’t end there. Oh no!
he’s about to get dragged by zayn’s fans pic.twitter.com/sr7BGB9Wxw
— georgia 44 | 118 (@copyofsatellite) May 31, 2022
“You can always look at the man for where he is and say ‘oh yeah whatever, that guy’s a dick’,” Liam Payne continued.
“But once you understand what he’s been through to get to that point and also whether or not he wanted to be there.”
He then reiterated that he doesn’t “agree with any of [Zayn’s] actions”.
“I can’t commend some of the things that he’s done. I can’t be on his side for that,” Liam Payne said.
“What I can say is I understand and your only hope is that at some point in their life, the person at the other end of the phone wants to receive the help that you’re willing to give them.”
IDK about you, but to me it feels unhelpful to talk pretty condescendingly about your former bandmate and former friend’s personal life in a public interview.
One Direction fans were quick to slam the interview on Twitter.
Plus, it’s drawn a load of comparisons to other members of the band. I don’t think you could prise something like that out of Harry Styles or Niall Horan if you bribed them TBH.
remember when harry ate a literal scorpion to avoid ranking their solo music? thinking about that tonight
— betty | TOMORROW + 1 🍒 (@thelakeswithlou) May 31, 2022
harry and niall on the phone rn like “girl… are you seeing this 🤭”
— mia 🐯 (@kiwicomplex) May 31, 2022
Does Liam Payne even have a manager or he’s just free bleeding
— Lauren 🍓 (@grapejewsrry) May 31, 2022
one direction reunion but it’s just niall and harry running around on stage
— em 🛰 stomper’s #1 fan (@scuffedvansrry) May 31, 2022
https://twitter.com/yngiology/status/1531770650657947650?s=20&t=D5G5NCUZw-3nN9FkbUtRCA
https://twitter.com/highnings/status/1531819075189587969?s=20&t=JMJCgqa7xBKTKHiMWtr7ig
thank you liam payne for destroying the little hope i had for a one direction reunion ever occurring
— mariela (@marielatrev_) June 1, 2022
One of the absolute wildest bits of the interview was Liam’s allegation that someone in the band once “threw him up a wall”. I can’t believe that while 14-year-old me was waiting to seduce Niall in my galaxy leggings, the One Direction lads were engaging in fisticuffs backstage.
“There was one moment where there was an argument backstage and one member in particularly threw me up a wall,” Payne said.
“I said to him ‘if you don’t remove those hands there’s a high likelihood you’ll never use them again’.”
And while he said he and Louis Tomlinson are close friends now, they actually didn’t get on well in the band.
“In the band we hated each other… like come to blows hate each other. It was close,” he said.
one direction throwing punches backstage sounds like it’s straight out of a wattpad fanfic
— izzy 🤠🪩 is seeing harry this month!! ♡ (@alltooizzy_) June 1, 2022
ok so one direction throwing punches backstage is what inspired harry to write treat people with kindness see NOW i get it!
— tia red rising extraordinaire (@cursedhive) May 31, 2022
Can One Direction stans never know peace? Apparently not. I guess I’ll delete my “One Direction 2030 Reunion Tour” Pinterest moodboard now.
