Liam Payne faces backlash for criticising One Direction bandmate Zayn Malik

Watch: Liam Payne takes a swipe at former One Direction bandmate Zayn Malik in new interview

Liam Payne is facing backlash for his comments about former One Direction bandmate Zayn Malik in a new interview.

The singer appeared on the Impaulsive podcast with YouTuber Logan Paul on Wednesday, where he called Malik, 29, a "d***" and also claimed that he — Payne — has become the most successful member of the band.

It all kicked off when host Paul brought up the infamous online feud between Malik and his brother Jake Paul in 2020 in Las Vegas.

The row had led to Malik's then-girlfriend and mother of his child, model Gigi Hadid going on Twitter to defend Malik as 'a respectful king' and blasting Paul as 'irrelevant'.

Sharing his thoughts on the incident, Payne, 28, said: "She tweeted something about get yourself a respectful man or something.

"That one didn’t age very well."

His comment seemingly in reference to Hadid's mother Yolanda Hadid's accusation in 2021 that Malik had shoved her into a dresser and called her a 'f***ing Dutch slut'.

Payne continued: "There’s many reasons why I dislike Zayn and there’s many reasons why I’ll always, always be on his side.

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"If I had had to go through what he went through, through his growth and whatever else. You know are your parents very supportive?

"My parents are overly supportive to the point where it’s annoying at times and they don’t even mind me saying that. And Zayn had a different upbringing in that sense."

He explained: "You can always look at the man for where he is and say, 'Oh, yeah, whatever that guy’s a d***.' Right? But at the end of the day, once you understand what he’s been through to get to that point, and also whether or not he even wanted to be there…

"I’m so misunderstood by myself more than anyone, like I don’t know what I’m doing or why I’m here. It’s like, I can’t sit here and d*** on him because of whatever."

The star then went on to claim that he outsold his One Direction bandmates, who also include chart-topper Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson, with his debut solo single 'Strip That Down'.

He boasted: "We did the first song, billion streams. I think it outsold everybody within the band - and I was the last to go."

Following the chat, unimpressed fans took to Twitter to slam Payne.

One wrote: "Bringing up the fact that other people’s parents weren’t as supportive as urs is not okay,"

Another wrote: "The only way Liam Payne gets talked about is when he talks about the other 1D members. Get a life it’s honestly embarrassing!"

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"I didn’t think I’d live to see the day where liam payne is the most problematic member of one direction, my 12 year old self would’ve never believed it lol," agreed a third.

Many were also quick to take father-of-one Payne to task about his claim he's outsold his ex band-mates.

They claimed that the track in question is currently sitting at only 800,000 streams, while Malik's debut song 'Pillowtalk' and Styles' 'Sign of the Times' are being streamed in their millions.

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