One Direction: Will Fans Be Responsible For Permanent Split?


One Direction stars Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson have become used to living their lives in the spotlight. Since Simon Cowell pulled five, young solo artists into a group and named them One Direction during the 2010 season of X-Factor, privacy has been at a premium for them. Over the last five years Cowell’s publicity machine has ensured the name One Direction has become known by just about every person on the planet, whether you care for their music or not.

With Cowell’s backing, five young men, who were all just 16 or 17-years-old when they joined One Direction, became multi-millionaires, toured the world four times, and gathered millions of young fans. Looking from the outside some would assume “life is a bowl of cherries” for the members of One Direction.

However, it could be argued that for One Direction fame comes at a very high cost. In light of recent events, that cost could be getting too high for the band to continue.

As has been the case with many boy band fans, One Direction fans have a reputation for their loyalty to the band. Many appear to also have an unhealthy obsession with the group. It was reported by the Inquisitr that One Direction fans made a trending hashtag on Twitter that urged fans to perform acts of self-harm after Malik quit the band. The Mirror reported on how One Direction fans made death threats to girls, including Taylor Swift, who have dated the band members.

Members of One Direction have complained numerous times about fans who camp out at their hotels, and even outside their homes, effectively trapping them indoors. In recent weeks, both Liam Payne and Niall Horan have pleaded with fans to give them some space and to stop dangerous activities like chasing their cars at high speed.

A couple weeks back, Liam Payne was accused of being homophobic by fans after he made a comment about one of the band’s songs during a show. Payne proved that this was far from the case when he agreed to a “tell-all” interview with Attitude, a popular gay lifestyle magazine. The Daily Mail reports that Payne was attacked by some One Direction fans for talking about Louis Tomlinson’s impending fatherhood and for criticizing those fans who spread rumors that Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson are gay lovers.

Some One Direction fans accused Payne of using his Attitude interview to “play the victim” after he was accused of homophobia. Payne took to Twitter to defend himself.

Payne has revealed that the pressure of being a One Direction member has driven him to drink in the past. As previously reported in the Inquisitr, Simon Cowell, One Direction’s mentor, recently indicated that he suspected the band will reform, but that it was by no means a certainty. Cowell indicated a One Direction reunion would only happen if all four members were committed and wanted to do it.

However, since the members of One Direction are extremely wealthy young men, there is no financial imperative for them to reunite. Some analysts also point out that the lifespan of a typical boy band is short, and after a five year run the One Direction gang has already surpassed the norm.

Although the entire group has yet to disband, the fan-induced pressures could contribute to a One Direction split becoming a permanent one.

[Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images]

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