NEED TO KNOW
Louis Tomlinson is calling out controversial YouTuber Logan Paul.
The “Lemonade” singer, 33, spoke candidly about the realities of fame when One Direction became a global sensation during an interview with U.K. newspaper The Independent published on Oct. 18. The boy band — comprised of Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles and Niall Horan — was formed on The X-Factor UK in 2010.
While discussing where to point the blame for the issues members experienced after splitting in 2016, Tomlinson took aim at the rise of social media influencers who’ve become online journalists.
Notably, Tomlinson’s late bandmate Payne appeared on Paul’s Impaulsive podcast in 2022. The interview sparked controversy with Payne seemingly drinking whiskey while making remarks about Simon Cowell forming One Direction around him and particularly critiquing Malik. Payne later apologized for the comments and said he spent 100 days in rehab.
“I f—— forever despise [Logan Paul], horrible, horrible little f—–” said Tomlinson, per The Independent. “I think that’s also the problem with some of this new ‘media’… I would like to think most journalists,” he continues, before correcting himself, “some journalists have a duty of care.”
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Elsewhere in the 2022 interview, Payne described his former bandmate Malik as a “dickhead” and said there are “many reasons why I dislike Zayn.” He also claimed that he and Tomlinson didn’t like each other while in One Direction but became “best friends.”
The “Walls” singer told The Independent that Payne had essentially been accurate in his comments about being the star of the band.
“It was definitely a role that was assigned to him. That is the truth,” Tomlinson told the outlet.
Revealing that he and the other members of One Direction looked up to Payne, he added, “he’d already played at halftime [at a Wolverhampton Wanderers game], we’d done s—– school shows.”
Payne addressed his interview with Paul in an eight-minute YouTube video in July 2023, explaining that he didn’t want anyone else to get the blame for his divisive remarks.
He went on to apologize to his former One Direction bandmates and confessed that he was “angry at what was going on” around him and “frustrated” with his career.
“The boys really stuck by me when I needed them most, they kinda came to the rescue,” said Payne. “Even Zayn, as well, which is why I did send him a little thank you online. It came across really big-headed, didn’t it?
IMPAULSIVE
“It’s hard for me to watch back,” he continued of his interview with Paul. “I think in the moment you make those videos, you don’t realize the impact that your words might have on other people.
“Looking back on it, the whole podcast was a big ‘L’ and not the Liam kind,” Payne added.
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The late singer died on Oct. 16, 2024, after falling from a balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was 31. Payne is survived by his 8-year-old son, Bear Grey, whom he welcomed with his ex, Girls Aloud singer Cheryl.
During an appearance on The Diary of a CEO podcast, Tomlinson told host Steven Bartlett that Payne’s death “put a pin” in the possibility of a One Direction reunion.
“And the irony is, there was no one campaigning for One Direction to get back more than Liam,” Tomlinson said on Oct. 9. “I would say I came in a close second.
“There are now only three other people on the planet that will deeply understand my professional journey,” he added.
A representative for Louis Tomlinson and Logan Paul did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Tuesday, Oct. 21.
