UPDATED: Liam Payne has since responded to the backlash he’s been receiving following his interview on the “Impaulsive” podcast via Twitter, clarifying his comments about Zayn Malik.
On Thursday (June 2), Payne tweeted, “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.”
“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,” he concluded.
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
During an interview on the “Impaulsive” podcast with controversial YouTuber Logan Paul, Payne of One Direction revealed his true feelings about his time in the boy band — and held nothing back. The 28-year-old detailed the moment he almost “came to blows” with another bandmate backstage and aired out his grievances against other ex-members.
“It was well-known within the band that I don’t like taking shit,” started Payne, with a glare on his face. “There was one moment where there was an argument backstage and one member, in particular, threw me up a wall. So I said to him, ‘If you don’t remove those hands there’s a high likelihood you’ll never use them again.'”
Although he didn’t disclose with whom the scuffle was — Payne went on to discuss Malik’s past controversies including one headline-making Twitter feud with Logan’s brother, Jake Paul, in 2020. Malik’s girlfriend at the time, model Gigi Hadid, tweeted in her boyfriend’s honor calling him “respectful” after labeling Jake “irrelevant.”
“She tweeted something about get yourself a respectful man or something. That one didn’t age very well,” said Payne, referring to last year’s allegations against Malik in which he reportedly shoved Hadid’s mother during an altercation.
Payne said there are “many reasons why I dislike Zayn,” but attempted to back-pedal on the comment by adding, “There are many reasons why I’ll always, always be on his side. 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. Zayn had a different upbringing in that sense.”
When asked who in the band was the most “rowdy,” Payne said: “Louis [Tomlinson] was wild. He wanted to be wild. He’s got this spirit.” He also admitted that he and Tomlinson “hated each other” during their time in the band but added that the two are best of friends now.
He went on to discuss his solo career in comparison to the other ex-members, claiming his 2017 debut solo single, “Strip That Down,” “outsold everybody within the band.” To which One Direction fans responded on Twitter, sharing screenshots proving songs such as Harry Styles’ “Watermelon Sugar” and Malik’s “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” had topped “Strip That Down” by over a billion streams each.
Although the other former boy banders have restrained themselves from airing out the band’s dirty laundry (Harry Styles and Niall Horan both chose to ingest disgusting foods on “The Late Late Show With James Corden” to avoid questions intended to stir up drama), Payne took the opportunity to provide his half of the story. He details his 2015 feud with Justin Bieber (which he chalked up to having too many drinks on an Instagram live), hotel room shenanigans and admitted to “still not knowing who I am, I replicate different people on a daily basis.”
See the full interview below.
