Is Zayn Malik Dead? Twitteratti Claim One Direction Singer Is An Al Qaeda Terrorist, Again

Zayn Malik, arguably one of the least favorite One Direction members, began to trend on Twitter Monday with the hashtag #RIPZaynMalik. Some distraught fans were taken in and spread the hoax, while others accused the singer of being a terrorist after the meme became one of the most popular topics on social media.

Malik's alleged death is false, but it’s not the first time the 1D member has fallen victim to such a rumor. In 2012 he quit Twitter because gossip about him being a member of Al Qaeda upsetting his family.

The British pop star told Fabulous magazine in 2012 that people started the hate-fueled rumors just because he's a half-Pakistani Muslim. Sugarscape.com quoted the singer: “Nasty things [were said] like I’m a terrorist, and this and that. How can you justify that? How can you call me that and get away with it?”

Then he added: “You can say whatever you want about me, I’m not really bothered. But when it starts to upset people I care about or I hear about it from my mum, then that’s a problem.”

Malik, 21, has since reinstated his Twitter account, but didn’t comment on the topic resurfacing on Monday. Some pointed out that such rumors were the reason the singer doesn’t go online that much, which seems to be true.

The theories for the #RIPZaynMalik eruption were various. Some said it was just a sick April Fools’ joke. Others, as pointed out earlier, said it was because he was a member of Al Qaeda. Some even tied him to the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 and said he was the reason the plane went down.

HollywoodLife.com reiterated that the rumor was a hoax, which is unfortunately a common trend on Twitter. The site said it all started with a fake report that Malik was found dead in his hotel room.

Some of the tweets users posted have been listed below:

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