The saga following Zayn Malik’s departure from One Direction continued with a new twist today that had both fans and former band mates up in arms.

Speculation has been mounting since Malik decided to leave the band last week after he was spotted leaving the studio with Naughty Boy despite citing his official reason for leaving One Direction as wanting to be a “normal 22 year-old”. It was thought that Malik had already started work on solo material despite making it sound as though he needed a break from the spotlight.

Today, Naughty Boy posted a demo online featuring Zayn’s vocals and the response online, rather predictably, was not a positive one. Louis Tomlinson of One Direction instantly took to Twitter and called Naughty Boy immature saying: "Wow @NaughtyBoyMusic you're so inconsiderate pal, seriously how f***ing old are you ? Grow up ! #masterofallwisdom". He went on to accuse the producer by saying that he was clearly "trying to wind the fans up".

I have to agree with Louis with his stance that the move was aimed at winding fans of One Direction up. Zayn’s departure is still very fresh in the minds of the band’s young and impressionable fans who have had to endure the devastating news. For Naughty Boy to post this demo merely days later is incredibly insensitive to these fans and is trivialising the emotions they have felt post-Zayn.

He could have been forgiven if One Direction hadn’t been so popular but they have been a pop culture revolution; so much so that distraught fans have been posting pictures implying that they have self-harmed in order to get Zayn back. That is serious fan dedication, no matter how inconceivable it may be to the rest of us but Naughty Boy has tried to tap in to the buzz about the subject for his own gain which has very much back fired.

Zayn himself hasn’t commented as yet but he could find himself even more unpopular with fans who may feel let down. The situation could almost be compared with a break up. There is a socially acceptable amount of time where you are expected to grieve a relationship before you move on to another. Zayn seems to have violated this rule and in doing so has probably broken many teenage hearts. Zayn even tried to pull the old “it’s not you, it’s me” cliché by citing his reasons for leaving the band as personal ones. The move shows a callous lack of respect for fans and will probably back fire spectacularly on the young singer.

Do you think the track leak was wrong, so soon after split from One Direction? Comment below:

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