The 'X Factor' judge isn't happy about his former protege's statement that he left One Direction because he was forced to make 'pop, generic' music.
- Dec 22, 2015
AceShowbiz - Zayn Malik gets branded as "rude" by Simon Cowell for harsh comments he made about One Direction. Weeks after the 22-year-old singer called his former band's music "generic as f**k," his former boss responded to the drama in an interview with The Mirror.
As previously reported, Malik discussed his exit from One Direction in the December/January issue of Fader magazine. In his first major interview since leaving the group, he said, "There was never any room for me to experiment creatively in the band."
"If I would sing a hook or a verse slightly R&B, or slightly myself, it would always be recorded 50 times until there was a straight version that was pop, generic as f**k, so they could use that version," he continued. "Whenever I would suggest something, it was like it didn't fit us. There was just a general conception that the management already had of what they want for the band, and I just wasn't convinced with what we were selling. I wasn't 100 percent behind the music."
In his own interview with The Mirror, Cowell dismissed Malik's claim. The music mogul, who helped form One Direction during "The X Factor" and signed them to his SyCo Records, said, "I think once he has had a chance to reflect on everything he will probably reconsider what he's said because it was a very, very democratic process in the band."
"It is a bit rude to the people who wrote all the hits with them. And to the other band members. I mean they all wrote a lot of the stuff," he added. "Life could have been a lot worse, right?"
Malik announced his departure from 1D back in March. Cowell hasn't given his former protege much thought since then. He said, "To be honest I don't even think about it too much because as soon as he left we sorted him out with a label who really were enthusiastic about him and then my loyalty was back with the boys."
"They had no warning. Not that they needed me but I wanted to show that I was there for them and that they could continue without him - and they did," he continued.