Liam Payne says he has ‘many reasons’ for disliking former One Direction bandmate Zayn Malik but he’s still on his side

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Liam Payne said that he has “many reasons” for disliking his former One Direction bandmate Zayn Malik after making a joke about the “Pillowtalk” singer’s relationship with Gigi Hadid.

On Tuesday, Payne appeared on social media star Logan Paul’s podcast, “Impaulsive,” to talk about his career and his time in the world-famous boyband. Payne and Malik were part of One Direction from 2010 until Malik left the group in 2015.

During the interview, Paul brought up a heated interaction between his younger brother Jake and Malik in 2020, when Jake wrote in a now-deleted tweet that he wanted to fight the former One Direction star.

Hadid, who was in a relationship with Malik at the time, defended her boyfriend and wrote that Jake was “irrelevant” and “ugly.”

After Paul brought up the Twitter exchange, Payne interrupted, saying: “Then she tweeted something about ‘get yourself a respectful man’ or something. That one didn’t age very well.”

Reports emerged last year that Malik had struck Hadid’s mother, Yolanda. In a statement on Twitter, Malik said that he was not going to “contest claims” in order to protect the privacy of his 1-year-old daughter with Hadid, Khai.

People magazine, Entertainment Tonight, and E! subsequently reported that the pair had broken up.

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After Payne’s comment received shocked responses from Paul and his cohosts, the singer elaborated that he is still supportive of Malik.

“Before we go too deeply into this, there’s many many reasons why I dislike Zayn and there’s many reasons why I’ll always always be on his side,” Payne said. “You can always look at the man for where he is and say, ‘Oh yeah, whatever, that guy’s a dick,’ but at the end of the day, once you understand what he’s been through to get to the point, and also whether or not if he actually even wanted to be there.”

Payne added that he is also “misunderstood,” so he doesn’t feel like he can fully criticize Malik’s situation without knowing the full story.

He continued: “Listen, I don’t agree with any of his actions. I can’t commend some of the things that he’s done. I can’t be on his side for that. But what I can say is that I understand, and you only hope that some point in their life, the person on the other end of the phone wants to receive the help you’re willing to give.” 

In the past, Payne has made jokes about Malik, such as last year when he posted a viral TikTok video poking fun at the singer’s departure One Direction in 2015. 

Insider has reached out to representatives of Malik for comment.