TeaDid One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik Feud? A Timeline of Their Relationship

Twitter Drama

Zayn and Louis’ infamous Twitter fight took place in May 2015, two months after Zayn left One Direction.

On May 4, 2015, former 1D member Liam Payne posted a video with the caption, “new fifth member? I think so.”

Shortly after, Zayn’s music producer and friend Naughty Boy tweeted a photo with Zayn writing, “Replace this” — seemingly responding to Liam’s video. Louis tweeted in response, “Remember when you were 12 and you used to think those Mac filters for your pictures were cool haha ! Some people still do HA!”

Zayn directly responded to Louis, tweeting, “Remember when you had a life and stopped making bitchy comments about mine ?”

Making Amends

Louis revealed he and Zayn made amends after the death of his mom, Johannah Deakin in 2016. “My mum said: ‘You’ve got to get back in contact with Zayn. Life’s too short,’” Louis told The Sun in July 2017. “A mother’s intuition is just f–king crazy. It always felt supernatural to me. My mum always knew what I was feeling and what I wanted. I can’t stand to hold a grudge with anyone. It doesn’t sit with me right. If there is any animosity, just clear the air. I met up with him and it was nice.”

‘Never Really Got Better’

In May 2019, The Sun‘s Dan Wooten asked how his relationship with Zayn had improved. “Truthfully it never really got better,” Louis replied.

“I had a couple of calls with him after I lost my mum and all the boys had agreed to come to that performance and he didn’t show so that really bugged me,” he continued. Louis then talked about how special it was to have his other bandmates there and be able to bond with them again. “I’ve got goosebumps now,”  Louis said about the night. “It was just seeing everyone there—Harry, Niall and Liam—that was what I needed that night, that support.”

Reminiscing

In August 2022, Zayn posted a video of himself singing One Direction’s “Night Changes,” which immediately made fans of the former band super nostalgic. When a fan asked how it felt like to see Zayn singing One Direction songs, Louis answered, “It was great to see him reminiscing on the one direction days.”

‘Wish Him Well’

Louis appeared on the The Zach Sang Show in September 2022 and spoke about where his and Zayn’s relationship stands.

“Are we friends? You’d have to ask him,” Louis said, adding that the last time he’d been asked the question by Zach Sang, he’d replied that he wasn’t “mature enough to get over what’s frustrating me in that relationship.”

“I don’t know if I’m mature enough now, but I’m definitely kind of closer to being over all that. There’s been numerous times over the last couple of years where I’ve thought about him and hoped he’s all right. And I’ve tried to get in touch with him, but it’s hard, those kind of things. But I definitely wish him well, definitely wish him well.”
Louis also spoke about the One Direction covers that Zayn’s recently been posting on Instagram, which co-host Dan Zolot noted Louis has liked from his official account.
“He’s a different caliber in terms of singer, Zayn, definitely. I will say that,” he began. “It wasn’t just…aimless. I wasn’t just liking it for the sake of liking it. It was a nice feeling ’cause, you know, in the past he’s said what he’s said about the band. And I understand some of what he was saying. But for me, in those videos, it showed he was reflecting. It showed that he was thinking about those times. Of course, at the same time showing off his incredible voice. But that’s why it made me feel good, ’cause it was like, ah, maybe you’re thinking about good times in the band.”