#louis interviews

It’s felt like these have quietened down a little over the past couple of years, almost as if most long-term and/or dedicated fans have properly learned to read what he says in interviews that are couched in terms palatable to the general public.

Unfortunately some of the takes I’ve seen over the past day or so with the Audacy interview and Diary of a CEO podcast have shown me that boy was I wrong!

First things first, PLEASE, for the love of god, watch or listen to these things yourself before running to X/Instagram/Tumblr with a hot take! I love that the fandom will put up talking points on social media for everyone, especially since some people might not be able to access these things in their territory or might not have the money to access them. However, you can’t rely on someone else unless they’re literally providing a word for word transcript - people miss shit and their own biases WILL come through. Know your shit before you run your mouth.

Secondly, and I really feel like this can’t be stressed enough, these interviews are not aimed US, his long-term and/or dedicated fans. They’re promo interviews for his new album, an album he really wants to do well and gain traction and that means it has to vibe with the general public. The promo interviews are designed for the general public to get a snippet of the PR Louis Tomlinson™️ narrative he, his team and his label need and want to sell. Sure, they know we’re going to watch! We watch everything Louis. But we’re not the desired target audience. The general public doesn’t have the history to know when something his says doesn’t quite jibe with stuff he’s said before. And for promo THAT DOESN’T MATTER. Us tuning in is an added extra bonus. Nothing here is supposed to shake what we already know about Louis, it’s designed to hook people who don’t know him, even if it appears to contradict something we think we know.

Now on to the hot button topics that seem to have inspired the stupidest takes so far - Liam and Simon Cowell.

I’m going to talk about Liam first. Liam is a sensitive topic for the fandom, especially Directioners, with the anniversary of his death only days away. So yeah, I GET IT. It hurts to hear people talk about Liam. I stayed away from fandom spaces for months after he passed, I’d even deleted all my old socials connected with 1D. Thing is though ladies and gentlemen, gays and theys: we did not know Liam. As much as we think we knew him, we didn’t spend the formative years of our late teens and early twenties living, touring and making beautiful music with him. The boys did. And the media is going to ask them about him, whether we (or they) want them to or not. If Louis refused to talk about him, you’d get snide comments like the ones in the London Standard article from earlier this year and there’d still be stupid-arse takes, only this time about how Louis doesn’t really care about Liam cos he doesn’t talk about him. Louis (and Zayn, Niall and Harry) are entitled to talk about Liam how and when they want to. It’s their grief, not ours (as much as we loved him) and they are the only ones who get to decide how they process that. They don’t have to perform grief to our standards. Does it still hurt me when I hear someone who actually knew Liam talk about him? Yes of course it does. But people like the boys or Liam’s family talking about him only serves to remind me just how much Liam was loved. They’re always going to be asked about Liam. Jay died nearly nine years ago and it’s still a talking point in almost all of Louis’ interviews - it shaped who Louis is now. Liam’s death is going to impact who Louis becomes in the future. Sure, Louis could blacklist questions about Liam and his death, but that wouldn’t do him any favours. He needs to be able to control that narrative. Let him talk about his brother. And if that hurts when we hear it? Just remember how fucking much Louis loved Liam. Grief hurts cos you loved the person that’s gone and that it hurts us so much is a testament to Liam’s beautiful soul.

Finally, the gremlin in the fandom. Simon Cowell. First off, I hate the man. He is slimy, obnoxious, creepy, entangled and intertwined with some truly foul individuals and that he has such notoriety and power in the music industry is a fucking travesty. But we can’t change that - not unless someone invents a Time Machine. As much as we might wish it weren’t that case, Simon Cowell was instrumental in the formation of 1D. Not as instrumental as he would like everyone to believe and definitely not as instrumental in their MASSIVE success as he would like everyone to believe (I firmly believe 1D was 1D because of the boys and was a monumental and massive success despite the fuckwits in the industry that surrounded them - but I digress). Secondly, given the things that have come out in recent years regarding the X Factor contracts courtesy of people like Rebecca Ferguson and Cher Lloyd, we know that there are non-disparagement clauses in them. This means that none of the boys can say anything that would be construed as detrimentally negative about the X Factor process or the people involved with it (Cowell et al) without risking being sued. They’ve all joked about it and Simon over the years, but like it or not, they genuinely can’t come out and talk about his creepy ass self with authority and truth without risking their careers. The big issue in these takes seems to be that what Louis has said about Cowell was “positive”. I’m not going to comment on what Louis actually said, I want everyone to listen and make up their own minds. But there is no way we can look at where we are now and suggest that Louis or any of the boys would be where they are without Cowell. Cowell is clearly a very smart businessman, he wouldn’t still be such a major player in the industry if he wasn’t. Much as we want to, we can’t deny that Cowell played a large part in giving us the boys. And comments about that skew positively. Multiple things can be true about the same person. Cowell can be a creepy ass weirdo and still have played a part in giving the world something as wonderful as the boys of One Direction.

Louis is in the midst of serious promo season for a single, album and tour. He’s not going to be negative about someone like Simon Cowell (leaving aside the point of whether he actually can be negative about him) and he’s not going to avoid tough topics like Liam’s death. He’s going to talk about the kid and the girlfriend. Listen to what Louis says for yourself and think on it. Don’t take the first snippet of something you disagree with and knee jerk all over social media without sitting and reflecting. I know nuance is difficult in this fandom, but the shady industry that surrounds these men we love is unfortunately nuanced - we love them and they’re a part of it after all!

honestly, yeah — i definitely have favorite interviews from their solo careers. the zane lowe interview for harry’s house and the zach sang interview for faith in the future are probably the ones that mean the most to me. they’re both very curated (like, let’s be real, nothing in those interviews is accidental) but they still feel as close to “unguarded” as we’re likely to get.

those two stand out for me because you can tell h and l both feel safe. they know the interviewers, they know the limits, and they’re able to let their guard down just enough. and maybe the interviewers don’t know everything, but they definitely know something, because they steer clear of certain topics, redirect when h and l start going into dangerous territory, and the vibe stays respectful and focused on the music.

there are little moments in both interviews that just hit. like in the zane one, when h says “once you know something, it’s hard to unknow it. it’s impossible.” (i use this a lot with the matrix red pill vs blue pill thing with fandom dynamics. once you can see through the media perception, you can't ever unsee it). and the way his expression changes when zane brings up tour injuries (right after l had gotten hurt the week before) it’s small, but it’s real. and the way he talks about the band - about how no one else will understand except the five of them.

and in the fitf interview, there are so many moments where l is talking about growth, redefining success, learning to trust himself, getting more confident. it mirrors what h says about taking control of his own work. they both talk a lot about balance — about separating their public lives and private ones, about needing to feel grounded in something real.

if you watch the two interviews back to back, you start to notice the overlap. the way they talk about their fans. the way they describe touring. their sucess. their reflection. it’s almost like two parents talking about the same family, from different angles.

They interviewed when he came to the premiere of all of those voices in Mexico in 2023. I’m not saying the names ofc but it’s kind obvious.

My first girlfriend told me and even showed me the email she got from Cinépolis where they listed the topics she wasn’t allowed to ask Louis about. She even had to send them the questions she was going to ask so they could tell her if everything was okay.

My other ex-girlfriend interviewed him, she told me (a long time later) and showed me the chats with her magazine’s manager where Louis’ team was telling them which topics were off-limits.