Louis Tomlinson

Why do we care so much?

My hypothesis is that we care because Louis presents a persona of authenticity and honesty. This public persona is in part why fans trust him and why he is endearing to us, the illusion of no boundaries, no lies. 

Therefore, Louis’ actions do constantly test this mythical persona. We fans are simple creatures who like consistency. When Louis says that he dislikes Love Island, or that he believes reality TV and influencer culture degrade young women’s perceptions of themselves, we want to believe this comes from a place of truth. You can easily find his quote about the Kardashians. We want to believe that his ethics do somewhat inform his personal life.

If he chose Zara and relationship is real, then what are we to make of Louis’ wavering moral values? “Influencer culture is bad for you lot, but not for me”? “It’s okay if it brings me attention”?

The reason they’re disliked in fandom is not because they’re “management.” Louis’ fandom isn’t a dumb, reflexive cult of One Direction fans with a bible on how to feel.

It’s because seven7management has shown itself to be unambitious, unimaginative, and frequently incompetent.

Management is not there to be Louis’ “haha let’s get another magnum of Grey Goose” laddy pals.

They have a job. Looking at Louis’ listener and sales numbers, his global Google search results, his social media, his global radio play, his standing within BMG itself, they’re not good at the job.

One of an artist management’s premier jobs is to get good PR representation for the artist. Louis has had Simon Jones through many, many horrible PR incidents, many demeaning articles with no PR pushback, many “gotcha” type interviews, no vetting of interview questions, no vetting of interviewers. It’s to the point where seeing Simon Jones’ face is harbinger to another Louis insult in the press.

This is not to mention the tour “meet and greet” competitions that never announce winners. Or the worldwide merch competitions that always end up being sent to stalker fans. Or the competitions that turn out to be only lazy datamining attempts with no winners. Or the clumsy explanation (or lack thereof) for cancelling an entire international leg of tour, with nothing to make up for it to date, while Europe got the equivalent of two years of the same tour.

It’s a joke that we even have to say it out loud, but a manager’s job isn’t to go to Coachella with their artist as a festival attendant.

I don’t care how much Louis likes them as people. Just do the job.

Louis’ fans hope for the very basic competence from his managers, but we get insidery jokes on his Instagram bio instead, when we’ve just had high hopes of a new album from a Twitter spree.

zayn giving louis a big shout out during his stairway to the sky show in la (night 2) 29.01.25 🥹❤️

louis in the crowd: 

this is killing me 😭 the sam claflin interview where he mentions dm-ing louis is just this in a different font

This is actor John Barrowman. Omg it’s funny and cute.

Liam and Niall used to post their FaceTime during the pandemic too. An OG 1D fan started this chain of 1D guys hanging out after 2015, and I added to it, but it seemed pointless after a while.

The post revealed that, through the last nine years, Harry wanted nothing to do with 1D. His friends are the Fulwell guys. He vacations with James Corden, he hangs out with Corden and Winston’s families and kids, he goes to the Euros matches with them, he is Ruby Winston’s godfather and he hangs out with Ben’s dad. He is friends with Niall if any of them.

“We don’t see what happens behind closed doors,” some fans say. Let’s not lie. Coming in the same car and leaving together is the clearest way for Ben and James to signal their longterm partnership with Harry. The link here gives a 10-year timeline. Niall, Louis, and Zayn don’t work with them in the same way. It’s very clear in the video mentioned here.

We all build relationships based on our end goals. Harry wouldn’t waste the energy with Fulwell if it wasn’t goal-driven. To be clear, it’s not a crime to be friends with Fulwell. But emphasizing business connections at this particular event is such poor, poor taste.

Like I said before, Louis is a ride-or-die guy who will always support his guys, but you, anon, are perfectly correct. If Liam had a birthday party, Louis would have attended, and Harry and Zayn wouldn’t have even acknowledged it. And fandom— including me— would probably have scoffed at him for it. Harry had many chances to support Liam through the years. Many chances where it would have meant everything to Liam. Harry didn’t.

We can all learn and change in retrospect. However, fans have no power to change whatever these men decide to do. No matter how many think pieces we write, these guys are who they are. We can’t make them better or worse men. We can’t fabricate a nonexistent relationship.

They have the power; they control their lives, and they control the narratives in their fandoms.

Life isn’t a fanfiction. We can’t simply fantasize a happy ending or write a reunion into our blogs where we’re deliberately misinterpreting their own words, or tag away a sad ending.

They also created a beautiful tribute with all of the offerings fans left at the memorial. I'm all teary. Thank you for showing love and respect to our boy. He must be rejoicing seeing his town do this for him.

i definitely thought this already just based on louis as a person (still protecting all of them after everything - with the way the post is worded to ask everyone to give them grace and time to say what they’ll say when/if they choose to say something) and the fact that his personal post came almost immediately after the 1d post, but zayn’s post being up nearly back to back with louis’ (plus his name being right next louis’ name in the 1d statement) - sort of made me feel like they had probably worked together on it. or zayn, even if none of the others offered contributions, had contributed some at the very least.

and i don’t know why that made me cry more than anything else, but picturing zayn offering some kind of support to louis just made me sob at the time. zayn has changed a lot over the years and expressed regret for the way he viewed all of the boys/their time together when he left and then he expressed regret for never reconnecting with liam. and if he did help louis, it’s almost like he’s making up in his own way for having failed louis back when jay passed - which hurt him more than anything else had.

even if it’s just their names being side by side and nothing more, it’s a really powerful visual.

Louis’ name being first on the 1D memorial post for Liam, and Zayn’s name right after made me do a double take, I’ll grant you that.

Their posts came one after the other. When I read them one after the other, I broke down.

One Direction's star death has left food bank volunteers devastated

Thursday, 24th October — By Dan Carrie

Liam Payne volunteering at the food bank in Euston during the Covid crisis

This week Euston Food Bank director Dorothea Hackman paid tribute to the star and explained how he had, without publicity or fanfare, stepped in to help when they were at their most desperate.

She said: “Liam Payne was the kindest, most sensitive young man I have ever met over an incredibly long period of time.”

The singer had been approached on social media by a young volunteer who was a fan and, to their surprise, he responded immediately. As the pandemic struck and London went into lockdown, the Euston food bank went into overdrive.

Ms Hackman added: “[Liam Payne] got in touch out of the blue and offered help. We desperately needed the money at the time. We were dealing with a massive increase in demand – because of lockdown people were desperate for food.

“He got in touch and asked what we did and what we needed. We told him about our work and he said, ‘Right, I’m giving you £80,000.’”

Half of the donation went to the Camden Town charity Food For All, and Liam visited both the Euston food bank and Food For All’s community kitchen to volunteer.

Ms Hackman added: “He came down to the food bank and really got involved, really rolled his sleeves up. He carried crates, packed boxes and bags, he visited us, supported us and was always charming.”

Liam was 31 when he died last week and was loved around the world after his success with One Direction – the pop group he had joined as a teenager. His passing has hit volunteers hard.

Ms Hackman added: “We are all incredibly upset and sad to hear the news. He really got it. He really understood his social obligations as a successful and rich person. He stood up to be counted. We will miss him terribly.

“He never once asked for anything. He did not want publicity, he did not want people to know, he just didn’t have that motivation – he saw a need and knew he could help.”

Food For All director Peter O’Grady recalled the singer turning up at a kitchen in Holborn and helping make giant pots of curry. He added: “He actually saved the day during the pandemic. He made the biggest single donation we have ever had, with no fuss. He didn’t want anyone to make a thing about it. He let nobody know of his generosity.”

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