“I love those guys. They’re my brothers. Niall, Liam, Louis, and, uh…Ringo.” said Harry Styles, 25, during his recent appearance on Saturday Night Live, reopening a One Direction feud that many Directioners hoped was dead. Though Harry “doesn’t regret” taking a shot at Zayn Malik, he shouldn’t have bothered, because a source EXCLUSIVELY tells HollywoodLife that Zayn, 26, “doesn’t care” what his former bandmember does or says. “Zayn was never close to Harry, and towards the end of their time with One Direction, it was definitely toxic, so he does his best to ignore Harry all together.”
“Zayn also did not watch Harry on SNL, and he has no plans to,” the source tells HollywoodLife. However, the joke got back to Zayn, and while he’s heard about Harry’s diss, “he really doesn’t care. He’d rather not see his name in a headline with Harry’s ever again, but he’s not losing sleep over this. Zayn’s mind is on much bigger and better things, mainly Gigi [Hadid.] He’d love to get her back.” HollywoodLife reached out to Zayn’s rep for a comment.
It appears that Zayn’s more concerned with love than war. Gigi, 24, is reportedly “reconnecting” with her old flame following her split from Tyler Cameron. She reportedly still has “a soft spot for Zayn. Though they’ve gone through a period when they weren’t communicating at all, they’ve reportedly “been in touch recently.” Gigi and Zayn first sparked dating rumors in late 2015, and though they initially denied any talk of a relationship, the two went public with their young love in spring 2016. They would endure a handful of breakups-and-makeups before splitting again in January 2019.
“Zayn’s focus is to somehow get back with Gigi, but that is a major uphill battle,” a second source tells HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. “Most of all, his focus is his own world, and he wants Gigi in it. When Harry or any of the guys give him any crap about anything, it doesn’t really stick because he just wants to put all of his focus on getting Gigi again.”
Harry “knew he what he was getting into when he [joked] about Zayn,” a source close to the “Watermelon Sugar” singer told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. Harry’s always had “difficulties” with Zayn, so he thought he’d make this “simply innocent” joke. As for the fallout from 1D fans who hope the band would get back together? “Harry doesn’t regret it.”