Zayn Malik’s Tell-All Is an Ego Trip About Ditching One Direction

Former boybander Zayn Malik made a blatant grab for relevance in a huge interview all about himself on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. Malik has cool head tattoos though.

Malik threw shade at his One Direction bros, claiming he ditched the band in 2015 partly due to petty “politics.” He admitted wanting to selfishly release solo music first and show off his vocals sans the deadweight. He also vaguely complained about 1D’s contracts, but shared no real gossip. Malik clearly just wanted freedom to prove his superior range without the band.

There was a lot of—look I don’t want to go into too much detail, but there was a lot of politics going on. Certain people were doing certain things, certain people didn’t want to sign contracts, so I knew something was happening, so I just got ahead of the curve. I was like, ‘I’m just going to get out of here. I think this is done.’…I completely selfishly wanted to be the first person to go and make my own record, if I’m being completely honest with you. I was like, ‘I’m going to jump the gun here for the first time.’

Sounds like Camila Cabello ruthlessly leaving Fifth Harmony to flex her ego.

Malik also discussed his infamous fight with Yolanda Hadid, but was vague on what went down. Hadid allegedly barged in unannounced at times and ignored Malik’s privacy demands regarding their daughter. The tension exploded into Malik allegedly berating Yolanda and shoving her into a dresser, leading to harassment charges that he denies. Malik mostly seemed annoyed the domestic dispute made headlines and cried victim about his privacy being invaded. But airing dirty laundry and playing the victim tends to backfire for celebs.

Anyway, Malik is peddling a “re-hauled” image and teasing emotional new tunes. Malik claims he’s so zen and above boy band drama now, but his shady vibe hints otherwise. He’s clearly still thirsty for solo success and to be taken seriously, but gives off bitter vibes.

So in summary, Malik’s tell-all was light on revelations and heavy on playing the victim card. Next time, share more deets instead of rehashing this woe is me 1D narrative. Until then, we’ll re-stream Harry Styles’ album.