As all One Direction fans will be aware, Zayn Malik sensationally left the bands “On The Road Again” tour last week after pictures emerged on the internet of him getting cozy with a woman who was not his fiancee, Perrie Edwards. One Direction fans in the Philippines were devastated when Zayn flew back to the UK, leaving the remaining members of the band to perform in Manila and Jakarta without him.
On Saturday, March 21, the remaining members of One Direction were praised by fans when they introduced themselves individually rather than as “One Direction.” According to the Mirror One Direction fans interpreted this as a show of solidarity with Zayn who was at home recovering from stress.
Yesterday many One Direction fans were furious with Liam Payne after he posted a picture on Twitter which saw him covering Zayn Malik’s face on a poster of the band as they posed with a group of One Direction fans.
In recent months there has been a huge amount of speculation that the current tour could prove to be One Direction’s farewell tour. The speculation emerged after the members of One Direction were reportedly engaged in a range of projects outside of their One Direction commitments.
Zayn Malik has worked in the studio with his friend Naughty Boy, Harry Styles has apparently been in discussions about a movie role and Liam Payne was reported to be working on a collaboration. It was also reported that relations between One Direction members had become strained after video of Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson smoking a joint emerged on the internet.
Last night Yahoo! Celebrity reported the clearest indication yet that One Direction may be headed for a split. They report that a source had told a UK tabloid newspaper that Zayn Malik wants to quit One Direction for good. Entertainment Wise and Pop Crush both say that the source is quoted as saying that Zayn has instructed his lawyers to “see if there’s a ‘get-out’ clause in his contract that will allow him to leave the band.”
“At the moment he’s convinced he wants out. He is finding it all too much and wants to quit the group, his legal team is seeing what the situation is. There is a strong chance he will have to fulfill his commitments and he might change his mind once he’s had time away from the spotlight. But as it stands he’s not keen to continue.”
One Direction were brought together on Simon Cowell’s reality TV show X-Factor in 2010 and placed third on that season. They signed a five-year, five-album deal with Cowell’s company SyCo. That contract expires as the end of 2015 and the band have so far released four albums. It is likely that Cowell will have tied the contract up tightly and that any breach of the contract would lead to punitive damages being awarded.
It seems likely that the members of One Direction will fulfill their contractual obligations but the question on every One Direction fans lips will be whether or not the band will still be together in 2016.
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