Zayn Malik Is Not on Great Terms With His Former One Direction Bandmates

Zayn Malik promised he’d have “four friends for life” when he abruptly quit One Direction last year, but that hasn’t panned out judging by his comments in a new Billboard cover story.

For starters, Malik doesn’t have the nicest things to say about his former group’s new music: Malik told Billboard that, as of late of November, he hadn’t listened to One Direction’s new album, Made In the A.M. He admitted the first single, “Drag Me Down,” was “quite cool,” but made a face when he brought up the second single, “Perfect,” and said, “Yeah, I didn’t buy that album.”

Malik, who’s working with Frank Ocean collaborator Malay on a solo album tentatively scheduled for this spring, says he’s also fallen out with a lot of his old crew. “I had every intention of remaining friends with everybody, but I guess certain phone numbers have changed and I haven’t received calls from a lot of people. I’ve reached out to a few of them and not got a reply. Certain people have pride issues, but it’s stuff you overcome in time.”

[Billboard]