Louis Tomlinson has lashed out at the producer working with Zayn Malik.
Zayn announced he was leaving boy band One Direction last week, shortly after he was signed off their On the Road Again Tour with stress. He insisted he wanted time away from the spotlight and to live as a normal 22-year-old, but one day later he was photographed in the recording studio with Naughty Boy.
Last night the producer retweeted a spoof video to his followers, which was called 'Naughty Boy Saved My Life Zaughty'. Zaughty is believed to be an amalgamation of Zayn and Naughty Boy's names, provoking Louis to post a furious message.
"Wow @NaughtyBoyMusic you're so inconsiderate pal , seriously how f**king old are you ? Grow up ! #masterofallwisdom," he wrote.
"@NaughtyBoyMusic I was talking about the video you tweeted . Clearly trying to wind the fans up ! Well you succeeded anyway . Fair play.
"Anywayyyyyyyyyyyyyy... Always have struggled to bite my tongue (sic)."
Seemingly undeterred, Naughty Boy posted his own status. In it, he implied there is a lot more to the story than people know at the moment.
"when ur gettin hate for some thing u didn't do, a bit of love can go a long way, that's why I retweeted, time will tell the real story guys (sic)," he wrote.
He then caused further outrage by posting a demo of Zayn's new track I Won't Mind on Twitter, captioning it: "let the music do the talking. there is nothing but love for what was left behind. thats why we don't mind. ;) #2016 (sic)."
I Won't Mind is a folk track, with Zayn singing over an acoustic guitar. Although there were claims he was trying a new sound, including rapping, in the studio, it is a simple ballad which isn't too dissimilar to One Direction tracks.
"We are who we are when no one's watching/And right from the start, you know I got you," he sings.
It sent One Direction fans into meltdown, with many slamming the star for being insensitive and tweeting with the hashtag #masterofallwisdom to support Louis. However, he further shared an inspirational quote which was seemingly clearly about Zayn.
"Respect yourself enough to walk away from anything that no longer serves you, grows you, or makes you happy," it read.
Louis' bandmates Harry Styles, Liam Payne and Niall Horan are yet to comment on the controversy.
Zayn has also been silent on Twitter. Last week he gave an interview to British newspaper The Sun after he left the band in which he insisted he was still on good terms with the rest of the group and they respected his decision because they knew he "wasn't feeling" One Direction anymore.