One Direction members Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan recently unfollowed Simon Cowell on Instagram! It comes in the wake of Cowell’s interview where he shared regrets about managing the English-Irish pop boy band. The music mogul formed 1D in 2010 on The X Factor. The boy band featured Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson. On Steven Bartlett’s Diary Of A CEO podcast, Simon admitted to regret not owning the One Direction name.
The legal agreement meant Cowell couldn’t continue the band’s legacy after they broke up. According to The Sun, Louis and Niall unfollowed Simon just days after his interview aired. In the two-hour interview, the record executive said he would buy the rights to the band’s name from the boys. He said, “They own the name. I could have made an animation or something.” But Simon created a stir by saying, “If you’re listening One Direction then I will buy it back from you!”
Furthermore, Steven asked him if each member owned twenty percent of the name. Cowell couldn’t recall the exact arrangement but said that any new content about the band needed approval from all members. In 2010, the TV personality signed 1D to his label Syco Music after The X Factor, and the rest is history. They went on to become one of the best-selling boy bands ever! However, Zayn left the group in 2015 to fly solo, and the rest of the members split a year later.
In 2016, Harry, Louis, Liam, and Niall announced they were going on a hiatus after their final tour. Previously, Simon hinted at a rift with some members, stating that Harry, Niall, and Louis had been “incredibly loyal” to him. Back in 2016, Liam signed a record deal with Republic Records, walking away from Cowell’s Syco. Liam later spilled the beans on how overworked the band was. He revealed, “We [One Direction] were definitely overworked.
I had no personal life, and I learnt nothing about myself.” Additionally, Payne described himself as a reclusive pop star who was afraid of people and preferred staying inside all the time. He added, “I needed to stop, definitely. It would have killed me.” But the music mogul believes that you can’t complain about invasion of privacy and working long hours. “It comes with the territory. It just comes with it. You will lose a lot of privacy.”
Anyway, Simon is launching a new competition to find the next big boy band. And he’s firm on not repeating his past mistakes. He admitted, “That was me being very naive. Next time, I need to own the name.” On Tuesday, the former X-Factor judge put up a giant billboard of his face in London to promote his new show. The billboard read, “Simon needs you. Future megastars wanted for a new boyband. No time wasters.”
Reports surfaced in March that filming for the new show had begun in the UK with Box To Box films. Sources said Cowell was in talks with Netflix for a major deal to announce the show soon. Will he be able to recreate the magic? Only time will tell. Until then, keep your eyes on Soap Opera Daily for more Simon Cowell updates!
