Liam Payne has been blasted by One Direction fans after his savage comments about former bandmate Zayne Malik.
The Bedroom floor singer reckons there are “many reasons” why he dislikes his ex colleague, but “several reasons” why he will always stick by him.
But fans were not happy with his comments on Logan Paul’s impaulsive podcast and slammed him for talking so openly.
The pair had been discussing Zayne’s feud with Paul’s UFC star brother Jake in 2020, but some followers thought he was hinting at the recent incident involving the Pillow Talk star and Gigi Hadid’s mum Yolanda.
Rumours suggest that Zayne is alleged to Have “shoved” the Real Housewives star and called her a “Dutch s**t” during a heated argument, prompting his split from the mother of his child.
Liam, 28, said: “There’s many reasons why I dislike Zayn and there’s many reasons why I’ll always, always be on his side,"
Liam referenced Gigi’s tweet after Zayne’s fallout with Jake Paul, in which she blasted Paul as ‘irrelevant’ and defended her other half as a “respectful king”.
Liam said: “She tweeted something about get yourself a respectful man or something. That one didn’t age very well.”
The dad-of-one then suggested he thought Zayne had been affected by “what he went through” in his childhood, suggesting unresolved issues and his alleged tough upbringing have had an impact on him.
Liam added: “If I had had to go through what he went through, through his growth and whatever else. You know are your parents very supportive?
'My parents are overly supportive to the point where it’s annoying at times and they don’t even mind me saying that. And Zayn had a different upbringing in that sense.'
'You can always look at the man for where he is and say, "Oh, yeah, whatever that guy’s a d*ck." Right? But at the end of the day, once you understand what he’s been through to get to that point, and also whether or not he even wanted to be there…
'I’m so misunderstood by myself more than anyone, like I don’t know what I’m doing or why I’m here. It’s like, I can’t sit here and d*ck on him because of whatever.'
Liam also alluded to the fact he has reached out to his former bandmate, who he spent six years touring the globe with alongside Niall Horan, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson.
He 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."
Zayne famously quit the supergroup in 2015 saying he wanted to be a "normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight".
Fans were not happy at Liam's words.
They called him out for reinforcing stereotypes, mocked his claims to be the "most successful" of the group and told him to look closer at his own relationships after it was reported that he cheated on his ex-fiancé Maya Henry.
One said: "Harry ate a scorpion and Niall drinking a salmon smoothie so they don’t disrespect and embarrass their band mates and LIAM PAYNE OUT HERE ON LOGAN PAULS SHOW TALKING SHIT WITHOUT HESITATION."
One added: “I'm the most successful out of the band” liam payne you’re sitting there with logan paul on his podcast while harry is breaking records and is playing at 2 sold out nights at wembley stadium in under 3 weeks."
One slammed: "Liam payne cheating on maya got more attention than any of his music did."
"The way harry dodges questions like the plague while liam payne will air out everyone’s dirty laundry for some loose change and a chicken wing," said another.
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