#1d contracts

As far as I’m aware, that never happened. I remember the Sony leak. But I don’t recall anything about their individual contracts leaked. My guess is that she’s repeating something she was told, but never actually saw herself.

@voxina @hoovesandfloorpaws @hannabec2 @tommosgun @alarrylarrie any of you remember this? Anyone else?

Hi dear,

So basically the contingent liability could be any number of things. We have absolutely no way of knowing. The only general idea we have is the knowledge of what contingent liabilities are and the time when it came into play, 2015. From the post where the lawyer explained this, they said:

Essentially, a contingent liability is a potential future loss that a company is facing. The contingent liability will not become a present, payable loss until some triggering event happens (or fails to happen).

What made me think this could be about Zayn leaving was the fact that

it happened in 2015, the same year the contingent liability appeared in 1D's financial records

it was being disputed, which implies there was a lawsuit contesting the applicability of the contingent liability to the event it pertained to

Zayn leaving would likely constitute a breach in their contract and result in some form of penalty put into 1D's company, some form of financial penalty - because a member of a band leaving can reasonably and arguably lead to potential loss of future revenue, which is where the contingent liability could come into play. It also could apply to the general idea that 1D, as a company, are worth for example $50. If part of that company breaks off, a percentage of that value is gone. So Zayn leaving drops the company value from $50 to $40 instead - which could then lead to a contingent liability.

In regards to it being about Louis/bg, my general thought was that there was something related to it that triggered this contingent liability that was then disputed and came to some resolution in 2020 - which was coincidentally when Louis left Syco, but that is likely entirely separate from this and probably has no bearing on this.

There are also a number of other things it could've been about, could be about their finances, image clauses, the band ending (hiatus), tax issues, any number of boring business/industry things, etc etc etc.

We have absolutely no way of knowing what it is about. Or even if it was 1D themselves who used the contingent liability or if it was used "against" them. We don't know. We do know that it was triggered, then it was contested, and resolved in 2020. That is all. We don't know if it was resolved privately or a court agreement occurred. We don't know if it was dismissed. We don't know who had to pay the $24M to whom, or if it was ever paid. There's no way to know, at all.

If any lawyer has any corrections to what I've said above, please let me know. I am not a lawyer, this is my speculation given the information I have read.

Note: in relation to this, this and this posts.

Addition and clarification/correction here.

EDIT: CORRECTION

I was sent this correction and explanation by the lawyer mentioned at the start of this post (thanks @twopoppies for forwarding me this message):

Hi dear,

Thank you so much for sending this in! It really helps clarify some things! In the end I guess this whole thing brings more questions than it helps us in understanding anything.

So basically, it could be literally anything that caused that contingent liability in 2015, from an injury leading to a lawsuit, to copyright, to Zayn, or any other number of things, either in their contract or not.

Whatever it was seems to have been something big tho, because ~$25M is a considerable sum of money.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/7544147/one-direction-24million-tax-bill/

Hi dear,

Here is a post about that with comment from a lawyer.

Yes, of course there were many things they had no say in, and it’s common for product, and that’s what a boyband is, a golden goose/product, to be if not told then strongly encouraged to do and say and appear certain ways. But I used “disservice” because it both denies the guys any agency, as though they were defenseless victims for five years, and it focuses our attention on the Evil Ones around them, instead of, as fans, asking ourselves how we can be supportive of the men they are now and of artists in general. Everything Liam has said since 2017 makes me worried for him. 

I’ve never researched it, but I imagine it’s rare for the big pop acts to direct the marketing campaign for an album release--I doubt even Taylor does that, although I’ve not watched all of her documentary. Stars at that level have people around them advising them all the time, and their labels and marketing/PR teams heavily influence how an album is released. It’s all very big business, although that may be changing.

There’s some room in the middle between they had no control at all and they were free to do whatever they wanted. Everything public facing suggests to me that they had some control, at least after they signed a new contract in September 2013. I don’t see Zayn as a helpless victim but as a flawed human being who did the best he could under extreme circumstances. He made choices to the extent he could. Some of them were bad ones. He was young and easily influenced when they started out. But as he grew up and away, his choices became more and more his, until finally they led him out the door. 

The X Factor and other reality shows are famous for “virtual slavery,” according to an article from a few years back in The Guardian (the actual contract is easy to find online), and 1D likely made very little from their first album. They renegotiated in September of 2013, though. I’m sure the terms were much more favorable as by then the guys would have been much wiser or had lawyers who were. By December 2013 Harry was papped leaving a Hell’s Kitchen gay bar with Kendall Jenner, so I imagine he was basking in some newfound freedom. (It wasn’t the first time he’d been papped leaving a club, so correct me, fans.) I think their original contract might prohibit them from ever talking bad about the show or Simon Cowell, but I think they had more personal freedom as time passed. I know Zayn has complained, rightfully, about lack of creative freedom, but I honestly think fandom over-estimates contractual restrictions on their behavior.They were hampered more by the constant press and fan presence and what the brand had come to mean (and the age of their fans), I think. Unpopular opinion, and they suffered enormous pressure and stress, but chances are from 2013 on at least they had been smart enough to get out of the worst of whatever they signed in 2010.