One Direction
Niall Horan (second from left) was the victim of a Twitter hoax. The One Directioner is not leaving his fellow bandmates. Pictured from left to right: Louis Tomlinson, Horan, Liam Payne, Zayne Malik and Harry Styles. Reuters

Is Niall Horan quitting One Direction? That’s the rumor that began to spread on Twitter after a post stating that the 21-year-old member left the group went viral. Fortunately fans of the UK group can rest easy, because the tweet that started it all was part of a hack!

The drama started on social media when Yahoo Celebrity UK’s site posted the following message:

The message immediately gained traction, getting retweeted more than 5,000 times and favorited more than 3,000 times in less than 24 hours. Shortly after, UK’s Sugarscape Twitter account posted a similar message with multiple crying emoticons, stating, “BREAKING NEWS: Niall has left One Direction.”

One Directioners began to have a meltdown following the tweets. But both the Yahoo Celebrity UK and Sugarscape accounts explained that they had been hacked during the night and posted an apology for “any heart attacks caused.” The Twitter accounts reassured fans that Horan was not leaving his fellow bandmates, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson.

While the fake tweets upset fans, Niall Horan has actually been having a fantastic week. On Saturday he was made an honorary life member at the Mullingar Golf Club, an organization he has been part of since he was 12. "To be awarded with this now is just incredible," he posted on Twitter. "Really much appreciated."

Meanwhile, the quitting rumors spurred the hashtag #ReasonNiallLeftOneDirection, which resulted in some pretty hilarious memes. Check out the funniest fan reactions about Horan leaving One Direction:

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