Liam Payne, bless his heart, appeared on Logan Paul’s podcast and sparked anger from One Direction fans with some pretty savage comments about his former bandmates and his solo career.
From a tabloid perspective, the spiciest part of Payne’s impulsive interview was apparently his comments on the inter-One Direction drama. He shared a story about an argument he had with an unnamed bandmate, which Payne said “threw me against a wall” (Payne later claimed he told that person, “If you don’t take those hands away, chances are you’ll never use them again.”)
In addition to that, Payne spoke a bit about Zayn Malik and his past controversies, including a feud with Paul’s brother, Jake Paul, and allegations last year that Malik pushed Gigi Hadid’s mother. during an altercation (Malik ultimately pleaded no contest to the charges against him). While Payne said there were “many reasons why I don’t like Zayne,” he noted that there were also “many reasons why I will always, always be by his side. had to go through what he’s been through, growing up and whatever… My parents are overly supportive to the point where it’s boring sometimes Zayn had a different upbringing in that sense.
To be fair to Payne in this regard, it’s incredibly reasonable for a person to have complex, even contradictory feelings about someone they’ve spent a lot of time with in the incomparable melting pot that is the boy band the most popular on the planet. . Arguably the general levels of cringe Payne exuded throughout the interview were arguably less defensible, which fans leaned into and thoroughly roasted him on social media. Hell, not just One Direction alumni X factor Friend Cher Lloyd took a hit, but Payne’s ex-fiancée Maya Henry also seemed to slip away (the couple split in late May after an alleged infidelity scandal).
@mayahenry On goddd🙅🏻♀️
♬ original sound – airy
Elsewhere, a fan pointed out the mortifying way Payne preceded his story about the backstage argument with a little attempt at chest swelling (“I think it was well known within the band that I don’t like take shit,” he said rather stilted. ). Another went beyond 1D comments to Payne’s bold claims about stepping into the boxing ring with brothers Paul and KSI, another internet celebrity and occasional fighter.
But the remarks that really seemed to deserve the biggest pushback were Payne’s rather wild claims about his post-1D solo career. While discussing his solo debut, 2017’s “Strip That Down,” with Quavo, Payne bragged about the song’s streaming success and quipped, “I think it topped everyone in the music industry. group, and I was the last to go [solo]. And I didn’t expect that.”
Liam Payne thinks his debut solo single “Strip That Down” outsold other One Direction members:
“First song, billion streams. I think it outsold everyone in the band. pic.twitter.com/Gr3c5UEczP
— PopBase (@PopBase) June 1, 2022
Sure, “Strip That Down” made numbers with over 886 million streams on Spotify and 365 million on YouTube, but it failed to beat the success of early solo songs released by Malik or Harry Styles. The former’s “Pillowtalk” went to number one in the US and UK and was certified five times platinum by the RIAA; The latter’s “Sign Of the Times” went to number one in the UK, number four in the US and was certified four times platinum by the RIAA. “Strip That Down” reached number three in the UK, a respectable number 10 in the US and was certified three times platinum by the RIAA.
Those numbers, of course, are just the tip of the iceberg, and it’s probably not in Payne’s best interest to discuss things like album sales versus Malik, Styles, or Niall Horan. Though to be fair to the boy, even he seemed to acknowledge it, admitting after his billion-stream bragging, “How do you go from here? I still don’t know who I am, I reproduce different people on a daily basis.
For Payne’s sake, we hope he finds out who he wants to be soon — and that he’s not the same man who woke up and chose violence on Logan Paul’s podcast.
@max_balegde Happy pride Liam!! #liampayne #onedirection #pride
♬ original sound – Max_Balegde