Zayn Malik Speaks Out After Louis Tomlinson, Naughty Boy Twitter Fight; Claims Self-Defense

Zayn Malik is speaking out after finding himself in a nasty three-way Twitter feud with his former One Direction bandmate Louis Tomlinson and music producer Naughty Boy. The 22-year-old singer has received a lot of backlash online after suggesting that Tomlinson was too concerned with his life in a recent social media post.

Malik took to the social media site late Wednesday to clear his name after both he and Naughty, also known as Shahid Khan, were “attacked” by angry Directioners for their comments about Tomlinson. He claimed he was simply “defending” himself and promised he still had love for his loyal fan base. Malik also deleted the original tweet in which called his former friend’s behavior “b---hy.”

Malik and Tomlinson exchanged heated words on Twitter after Naughty Boy shared a photo of himself and the former boy band member together. He captioned the image, “replace this,” which many believed was a not-so-subtle jab referencing rumors that the foursome was looking to fill Malik’s shoes. The 23-year-old mocked the photo saying the filter was reminiscent of that one would use “when you were 12.”

Directioners were quick to come to Tomlinson’s aid, attacking Malik and Naughty Boy. Before long the loyal fandom had “#TomlinsonSlaysAgain” trending and urged Malik to remember where he came from. According to reports Malik has lost a significant number of followers as well as fan support since leaving One Direction on March 26. Following the release of his first solo track, the singer lost 50,000 followers on Twitter.

Beyond thanking fans for their support, Louis has not commeted about the feud. The rest of the band has steered clear of the drama.