#doac

- Louis Tomlinson on The Diary of a CEO Podcast

We’ve long assumed, based on contracts that have leaked over the years, that there are non-disparagement clauses in the X-Factor contracts. Basically, that means they can’t publicly criticize Simon.

For example: Remember when Harry joked in an interview a few years ago that Simon gave him “anxiety” and then a whole round of articles dropped about how Simon is a huge mentor to him? Come on, those two haven’t spoken in years. But some lawyers made some scary late-night phone calls that week, I bet.

All of which is to say: was anyone else shocked by how openly Louis criticized Simon in the DOAC podcast? Some of that language sure seemed actionable to me, and I have to think that it is not a coincidence he did his first long-form interview ever so soon after the 15th anniversary.

Louis was not hating on him or shading him in what he said in the DoaC podcast. These men were 21 to 23 in 2015 when 1D went on “hiatus”. They were barely adults and they’d just spent the last five years working non-stop. All five of them entering the X Factor as solo artists, not as a band. They all deserved to be “selfish” and make decisions for themselves. Louis has spoken about the situation from his own point of view. He’s said he now gets why a timescale wasn’t put on the hiatus. Ask yourself if you would’ve been able to have that discussion and tell someone you cared a lot about and had spent the past five years living in the pocket of, that you wanted this break to be indefinite at 21 or 22 or 23? Louis says he now gets it, it’s clear he doesn’t “blame” anyone for the band ending. So what right do we as fans have to decide who is to “blame”?

In this part of the fandom we talk a lot about the psychological and emotional manipulation the boys were subjected to during the band days and to me this definitely plays a large part in why Louis didn’t want the hiatus and why he’s previously said he felt ‘blindsided’ by it. Louis has spoken about how Cowell made him feel “important”. He’s also spoken about how he didn’t feel like he was “good enough” as a singer to be in the band and that was why he threw himself into trying to make himself indispensable as a songwriter. He invested (and imo was encouraged to invest) a lot of himself and his self-worth into the band. It’s understandable, to me at least, why Louis didn’t want a hiatus and why he didn’t want the band to end. He felt he couldn’t do it by himself. We know that’s wrong. We always did. One Direction was all five boys. They were all equally important and valuable. And each and every one of them was capable of going it alone.

Whether we as fans wanted it or not, 1D was always going to end. It was never really going to be OUR decision when that happened and all the boys deserved the chance to make their own decisions and pursue their own dreams outside of the band dynamic. Whoever it was that finally pulled the trigger had every right to do that. Knowing who it was is irrelevant and hating on any one member for it is counter-productive.

People really sat and listened to Louis talk about the hate that Liam received and how that impacted him and turned right around and started hating on another one of the boys. They clearly didn’t really listen. Louis would hate that people have twisted him openly and vulnerably discussing his thoughts and feelings about the topic as an entry point to hating on one of the other boys. Liam would hate it too. Louis, Harry, Zayn and Niall are actual people with actual feelings behind the PR images and narratives. I know people didn’t just sit and listen to Louis be so fucking vulnerable for two hours and not get that.

Sure people are entitled to be in their feels about the band ending. But blaming any one person is not it. And inciting the vitriolic levels of hatred that have been going round is DEFINITELY not it. Feel it sure, but keep it off the fucking internet where the actual real live people that are being spewed all over can see it.