Zayn Malik breaks his silence after years away from the spotlight: from altercation with Gigi Hadid’s mother to the illusion of being a father
The artist’s altercation with the model’s mother in 2020 caused the couple’s breakup
The news broke in 2021 and caused a real media stir. Yolanda, Gigi Hadid’s mother who was then partner of the artist Zayn Malik, had denounced her son-in-law for assault. The couple broke up and the performer was sentenced to 360 days of probation in which he had to complete several programs for anger management and domestic violence. It’s been about a year and a half since that incident and now the former One Direction member has spoken openly about what happened on Alex Cooper’s podcast, Call Her Daddy, where he promoted his single Love Like This. He has also referred in this space to his current relationship with the model, mother of his daughter Khai, and his time in the boyband that generated a real fan phenomenon that went around the world, One Direction, statements that come after years of silence in which the interpreter moved away from the spotlight.
Zayn has explained his attitude after what happened, a situation in which he maintained a scrupulous silence without responding for months to comments and speculation. “I don’t usually get involved with what is said about me on social networks. The most valuable thing is time, and trying to explain something to others and justify yourself takes a lot of time, so I decided to keep it to myself. I knew what the situation was, what happened and what people were involved. That’s all that mattered to me. If anyone in their right mind lives through the situation, I think they can respect that I didn’t want to focus on the problem or have a scuffle with her (Yolanda) or talk about something that my daughter might read about in the future. I handled it in the best way and in a respectful manner. That’s all I can say about it,” she said.
Despite the fact that that situation caused the breakup with her partner and that she also had to go to court, her current relationship with the model is good. “We have a very good relationship because of Khai. She is the most important thing, so it’s going well,” he explained. The ex-couple tries to keep their little girl’s privacy and does not usually share images of her on their profiles, in fact it was said that the fight Zayn had with his mother-in-law was because she shared an image of the little girl. “She didn’t choose to be a public figure. I want to give her the choice to be away from all of this. I will support whatever she wants to do in life.”
Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid began their relationship in 2015, shortly after the singer broke up with Perrie Edwards, member of the girl band Little Mix. They had several comings and goings between 2018 and 2020, when it became known that the model was pregnant with her first child with the artist. The baby girl named Khai was born in September 2020 and the ex-couple share custody of her. “She is growing so fast that when I am with her I do nothing else. I invest the time in doing things she wants, like painting, playing with play dough, going to the park, to the zoo… I’ve relived my own childhood through her.” With tenderness, Malik confesses that with his daughter he has regained his illusion. “I had reached a point in my adulthood when everything was gray and boring. She has brought back the color” he said.
His departure from One Direction
Zayn was the first to leave the boyband One Direction, an ensemble that was a real phenomenon between the years 2010 and 2015. It was that year when Malik left the band, which would eventually disband. “We were so overexposed in the band that’s why I took my time. We spent five years of our lives together, day in and day out, and we ended up getting sick of each other, if I’m being honest with you. We were close. We did things together that no one in the world would understand or could even live through, and I look back now with a better feeling than when I left. There were some great experiences, I had some amazing times with them, but yeah, our time has passed,” Zayn said.
The singer had not referred to the separation of the set, of which his companions have spoken over the years. Now Zayn recognizes that he wanted to do other things, apart from the band, that’s why he made the decision to leave. “To be honest, I left in a completely selfish way. I wanted to be the first to make my own record. When it comes to music, I’m very serious and competitive.” The singer is preparing a new album, the fourth of his career, which arrives with this appetizer in the form of a single, Love Like This, due out July 21.