Liam Payne chose an inopportune time to air One Direction's dirty laundry and fans are livid.
Appearing on the Impaulsive podcast, the British singer singled out his former bandmates by name. Fans are now accusing Liam of trying to divert attention away from his alleged infidelity. The "Strip That Down" singer's engagement to Maya Henry went up in flames after he became embroiled in a cheating scandal.
Among the revelations was a scathing bit about Louis Tomlinson, whom Liam said he "hated" when 1D first formed. Although Liam said he and Louis are now close, he claimed they nearly traded blows when they were part of the band.
"We came very close at points. There was one moment where there was an argument backstage and one member in particular threw me up a wall," Liam revealed.
He also spoke about Zayn Malik, who famously left 1D in 2015. "There's many reasons why I dislike Zayn and there's many reasons why I'll always, always be on his side," he said, referencing Zayn's "upbringing" by hinting his parents weren't supportive.
Liam's interview has ignited fans' outrage, with many pointing out that his former bandmates haven't badmouthed One Direction since the group went on hiatus over five years ago.
He also drew some heavy criticism for claiming in the same interview that he is the most successful of his former bandmates. Speaking of his 2017 single "Strip That Down," he said, "We did the first song, billion streams. I think it outsold everybody within the band."
Fans have pointed out both Zayn and Harry Styles' debut singles, respectively "Pillowtalk" and "Sign of the Times," amassed over a billion Spotify streams, while "Strip That Down" has 800,000.