Louis Tomlinson has unfollowed his former One Direction bandmate Zayn Malik on Instagram, following reports of an alleged physical altercation between the pair. As of Saturday, Tomlinson no longer follows Malik, though he continues to follow Harry Styles, Niall Horan and the late Liam Payne. Malik has not reciprocated the move, with Tomlinson remaining among the 17 accounts he follows.
The unfollowing comes after a report in The Sun that a planned Netflix docuseries featuring the two singers has been scrapped. The series, which was to follow them on a road trip across the US, was reportedly abandoned after an incident six months ago in which Malik, 33, allegedly punched Tomlinson, 34, following a remark about Tomlinson’s late mother, who died of leukaemia in 2016. Netflix has not commented, and the series’ director Nicola Marsh shared the newspaper’s front page on Instagram, writing: “And there goes the last year of work.”
On the same day the news broke, Malik was admitted to hospital for undisclosed reasons, sharing a photo in a hospital gown and thanking staff. He had to postpone a One Night Only show in Kingston, London, scheduled for 13 April, due to illness. His new album, Konnakol, was released on Friday. Tomlinson is currently on tour, with a UK date set for 24 April at Manchester’s Co-Op Live arena.
The two first met on The X Factor in 2010 and were placed in One Direction by Simon Cowell. The band split in 2015 after Malik left under acrimonious circumstances, and relations between him and his former bandmates have been strained since. In recent years, he and Tomlinson appeared to have rekindled their friendship, but the latest reports suggest a fresh rift.
