Louis Tomlinson says he’ll always ‘despise’ Logan Paul after Liam Payne interview

Louis Tomlinson is calling out Logan Paul for his 2022 interview with Liam Payne, stating that he’ll “forever despise” him.

The former One Direction band member spoke candidly in an interview with The Independent published on Oct. 18 about the group’s rise to fame, the emotional struggles Tomlinson and the others faced while in the group and the challenges after the split in 2016.

He calls out the rise of social media influencers who’ve become online “journalists,” specifically Logan Paul, as a point of blame for the issues members experienced after splitting up.

Liam Payne appeared on Paul’s podcast “Impaulsive” back in 2022, and this notorious interview sparked controversy amongst fans and viewers. Payne was seen drinking whiskey throughout the whole episode and making remarks about Simon Cowell forming One Direction around him.

“I fucking forever despise [Logan Paul], horrible, horrible little fucker,” Tomlinson said. “I think that’s also the problem with some of this new ‘media’ … I would like to think most journalists … some journalists have a duty of care.”

In the interview, Payne also heavily critiqued Zayn Malik. He alleged that Malik and Tomlinson weren’t fond of each other in 1D but eventually did become best friends.

Payne addressed the interview with Logan Paul in an 8-minute YouTube video in 2023, explaining that he didn’t want anyone else to get the blame for the comments he made the year prior.

He continued to apologize to his former One Direction bandmates and explained that he was “angry at what was going on” around him and “frustrated” with his career.

“It’s hard for me to watch back,” Payne said. “I think in the moment you make those videos, you don’t realize the impact that your words might have on other people.”

Later on in Tomlinson’s interview with The Independent, he stated how Payne was essentially correct in the sense about the band being formed around him.

“It was, definitely,” he said. “It was definitely a role that was assigned to him. That is the truth.”

He explained that he and their bandmates looked up to Payne, stating that “he’d already played at halftime [at a Wolverhampton Wanderers game]. We’d done shitty school shows.”

The late singer died on Oct. 16, 2024, after falling from a balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina at 31 years old.