One Direction may be one of the biggest boy bands in the world right now, but they are still under Simon Cowell’s label, and ultimately, must answer to him. Yet, with the recent Twitter spat between Louis Tomlinson and Naughty Boy, veteran X Factor judge Louis Walsh opened up about the group, and said that Cowell no longer has control of his boys.
Walsh has an impressive record of managing boy bands, including Boyzone, Westlife, and more recently, Union J. One thing that Walsh always makes sure of is that his groups never start bickering with others on social media.
“I would have given them a good bl**cking– they would know never to do anything like that. I would probably sack them.”
Walsh is concerned that Cowell, one of the biggest music moguls in the entertainment industry, doesn’t have “direction” with One Direction anymore, as shown in a public feud between Tomlinson and Naughty Boy that’s been going on since ex-member Zayn Malik left the band.
Naughty Boy, a music producer rumored to be working with Malik on a solo album, made a jab at Tomlinson recently that kept the social media war going.
“Louis needs to shut his mouth. He is just a child. He’s messing with a sleeping lion and you shouldn’t have woken up a sleeping lion as you are only going to regret it…I don’t know Louis so I can only base my judgment on what he says, and he is acting like a 12-year-old.”
Roar hahahaha !
— Louis Tomlinson (@Louis_Tomlinson) May 10, 2015
Walsh feels that “dirty laundry” should never be aired in public by celebrities, and that Cowell doesn’t seem to have a grip on some of the One Direction members, which may affect the entire group.
“You don’t air your dirty laundry in public. Simon made this band. They would be nowhere without Simon Cowell. Let’s get that straight. He put them together, he pressed the buttons, he made it happen. Without Simon they’d be nothing. I think he’s lost control of them and that’s what happens with bands. They get too big and don’t listen to anybody and then it’s all over, and then they think ‘why didn’t we listen?’”
Does this mean the end of One Direction is soon to come? According to Walsh, the band will probably have another few good years before calling it quits.
Meanwhile, the band doesn’t seem to be slowing down. They recently appeared on The Late Late Show and are scheduled to attend the 2015 Billboard Music Awards . They’re also working on their fifth studio album, which is slated for the release in the fall.
[Photo Courtesy of ShowBizIreland /Stringer/Getty Images]
