Louis Tomlinson is taking a stand against the controversial YouTuber Logan Paul, speaking candidly about the realities of fame during an interview with The Independent published on October 18th. The 33-year-old "Lemonade" singer, who was a part of the global sensation One Direction, formed on The X-Factor UK in 2010 alongside Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, and Niall Horan, addressed the issues that arose after the band's split in 2016.
Tomlinson specifically pointed the finger at the rise of social media influencers who have become online journalists. He recounted his late bandmate Payne's appearance on Paul's Impaulsive podcast in 2022, which sparked controversy with Payne seemingly drinking whiskey while making remarks about Simon Cowell and Malik. Payne later apologized for his comments and spent 100 days in rehab.
"I f---ing forever despise [Logan Paul], horrible, horrible little f---er," Tomlinson said. "I think that's also the problem with some of this new 'media'... Some journalists have a duty of care."
Elsewhere in the 2022 interview, Payne described his former bandmate Malik as a "dickhead" and said there were "many reasons why I dislike Zayn and many reasons why I'll always be on his side." He also claimed that he and Tomlinson didn't like each other while in One Direction but became "best friends."
Tomlinson told The Independent that Payne's comments about being the star of the band were essentially accurate. "It was definitely a role that was assigned to him. That is the truth," he said. 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---ty 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 apologized 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."
The late singer, who died on October 16th, 2024, after falling from a balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina at the age of 31, is survived by his 8-year-old son Bear Grey, whom he welcomed with his ex-girlfriend, 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 himself.
